The trick to a good base is to blind bake pastry. By doing this, you are setting the foundations for a really good, short, crisp base instead of a soggy mess.
A blind bake pastry is really easy to make. The idea is so that you can keep a fairly thin crust without it bubbling up before you put the filling in.
Once you have made your pastry, follow these steps.
Roll out onto a lightly floured surface – roll out to the size of the tray you intend to use for the tart. Line the tray with baking paper, then place into tray and trim to fit.
Refrigerate for at least half an hour to let the pastry rest. This will let the gluten relax and stop shrinkage.
The next step is to place grease-proof paper over the pastry, and cover with either baking beads or uncooked rice to weigh the pastry down and to stop it bubbling up.
Bake 180ºc for about 15 minutes to set the pastry.
Then remove the weights and put tray back into the oven, cook until slightly golden.
Remove from oven.
Carefully inspect your pastry – if it has cracks like mine does, the liquid will leak into the tray when you add the filling. You need to make a “putty” to fill the cracks and seal the pastry.
To make the putty, mix some flour and water together to form a paste.
Then spread a film of paste over the baked pastry, making sure you fill any cracks.
Then, back into the oven to cook off the base again.
You will see that the “putty” will be firm when ready.
Once your tart base is ready, you can then continue on with the recipe and fill as per the recipe instructions.
