How to roll out pastry for a tart


How to roll out pastry for a tart
Rolling out pastry from a block and lining a tart mould or tin is not as straighforward as all that. To help you to succeed every time, here is a very simple tip. It will to change your opinion of tarts...
307 K 4.0/5 (60 reviews)
Grade this recipe:
Keywords:
Last modified on: October 13th 2010
For 1 tart, you will need:

Change these quantities to make:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 25 min.
When should you start or finish this recipe?
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time

Step by step recipe


Stage 1 - 1 min.
How to roll out pastry for a tart
To start with, it is necessary to use pastry:
  • Which is not in a ball, but rather flat like a thick pancake.
    • In a ball, you will break it rather than spread it with the rolling pin.
  • Which is very cold, straight from the fridge if possible.
    • If pastry is warm, therefore soft, it will be easy to roll out but will stick to the rolling pin and will be practically impossible to put in the mould.

Stage 2 - 10 min.
How to roll out pastry for a tart
Dust working surface and rolling pin generously with flour (don't worry about using too much, the surplus will be removed before baking).

Roll out pastry with the rolling pin, and for that here is the most important knack: you should always roll from the centre out to the edge of the pastry.

Stage 3
How to roll out pastry for a tart
Never pass the rolling pin over the whole surface of the pastry, you will inevitably made a bump in the middle.

You should work as quickly as possible so that your pastry stays very cold. Flour the top, and/or turn the pastry during this operation.

Roll out to the required thickness (2 or 3 mm usually), or size, depending on your mould (to try, put your mould gently on the pastry, which should be about 2 cm larger all round).

Stage 4 - 3 min.
Once the pastry is rolled out, it is necessary to transfer it to the mould, which is a delicate operation.

For this, the best way is to pass a metal spatula or slice underneath, then wrap it around the rolling pin, and then unroll it over the mould.

You can watch a video demonstration on the right.

Stage 5 - 3 min.
Then, you need to press the pastry into the bottom and sides of the mould, so that it is properly lined, and so that the bottom of pastry when cooked will be nice and solid.

You can watch a video demonstration on the right.

Stage 6 - 3 min.
How to roll out pastry for a tart
Once this operation is complete, trim off the surplus pastry with a knife by following round the top of the mould.

Note: With this surplus, you can make small tarts, or if it is a sweetcrust pastry, small biscuits to serve with coffee for instance.

Stage 7 - 2 min.
How to roll out pastry for a tart
Remove any surplus flour with a brush.

Stage 8 - 1 min.
How to roll out pastry for a tart
And finally, prick over the bottom of the mould with a fork or a "pique-vite", to avoid the pastry bubbling up during baking.

Put the mould in the fridge for one hour so that pastry firms up before baking, it is then ready for use.
Remarks
In the photographs I'm using a tart ring (which is a kind of bottomless mould) rather than a classic mould, I recommend it to you because it's much more practical and easy to remove a tart from the circle than from a mould. You can find all sizes in specialist stores, choose stainless ones.
Source: Home made.
Nutritional information
Proteins (gr)Carbohydrates (gr)Fats (gr)Energy value (in k-calories)Energy value (in k-joules)
Whole recipe270 RDI=100 %1,520 RDI=140 %1,140 RDI=170 %17,440 RDI=870 %73,010 RDI: 870 %
Per 100 g90 RDI=30 %510 RDI=50 %380 RDI=60 %5,810 RDI=290 %24,340 RDI: 290 %
The % figures are calculated in relation to the Recommended Dietary Intake , or RDI of 2,000 k-calories (or 8,400 k-joules) per day for a woman Change to a man
Possible allergens in this recipe: Gluten, milk, egg, Nuts
How much will it cost?
  • For 1 tart : 1.55 €

Change currency:

Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Sweetcrust pastry (pâte sablée)
Sweetcrust pastry (pâte sablée)

You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Tarte Bourdaloue, How to bake blind , How to make a good pastry tart case , How to make tart cases, Apple custard tart, ... See them all 43

Other recipes you may also like
How to extract passion fruit juice
How to extract passion fruit juice
Passion fruit are rather strange fruit as they do not really have much flesh, but rather seeds surrounded by a fine layer of pulp. Here is a way to extract the juice.
March 23th 2011532 K 32.3 20 min.
How to prepare tomatoes
How to prepare tomatoes
Yes, I know you will say to me: why peel tomatoes? The answer is very simple: it's much better, gives a better texture, softer in the mouth. The skin is tough, adds nothing to the taste (and you will have noticed that commercial tomatoes have practically no taste), and finally it's there (on/under the skin) that the awful chemical products that the fruit receive during growth, are concentrated (treatments, pesticides, etc...).
June 6th 2012340 K 24 40 min.
How to glaze a tart
How to glaze a tart
Professional pastrycooks usually say that "a beautiful cake is already half sold", it is one of the reasons why they do not put a tart on sale without glazing it ("abricoter" in Fench), i.e. coating it with a thick apricot syrup. This glaze gives a glossy finish to the tart (see the photographs below) and also protects it from the air and thus from oxidation and browning. It's a quite simple technique that you can easily apply to give to your desserts a professional look. This is how you do it.
February 15th 2016463 K4.4 7 min.
How to prepare a bain-marie
How to prepare a bain-marie
A bain-marie is the best way to cook or heat a preparation gently without risk of burning.
July 5th 2013521 K5 7 min.
How to prepare an onion or shallot
How to prepare an onion or shallot
Onions and shallots are widely used in the recipes on this site, generally finely chopped. Here is a method to do it quite easily with a simple knife.
February 21th 2011188 K5 10 min.
News list of cooking-ez.com

Sign up to receive the latest recipes (next batch due to be sent on 2025-09-07)

*Your e-mail Your first name or nickname
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Post a comment or question
Posted by:
I am not a leaving thing

Follow this recipe (as 2 people already do)
If you are interested in this recipe, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the recipe is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
I am not a leaving thing
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.

Back to top of page