Making your own shortcrust pastry is so easy, you will wonder why you ever spent the extra dollars on the store bought variety. Use this recipe for either sweet or savoury dishes and create a simple, yet short (that’s where you get that crisp base from) pastry.
Yum, who doesn’t love a lovely tart with a really lovely shortcrust pastry base? This can be used for quiche, sweet tarts, savoury tarts – it’s simple and delicious.
This recipe is made in the food processor – if you do not have a food processor, you can still make it by hand – work quickly and only use the tips of your fingers when getting the mix to “breadcrumb” stage (if you use your palms the mix will heat up).
Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cup plain flour
- 125g chilled butter (roughly chopped)
- 1 egg yolk, lightly whisked
- 2 teaspoons iced water
Put the flour and butter into the processor – process until it looks like fine breadcrumbs.
Add egg yolk and water and process until dough just starts to come together (note – add more water if required).
You are aiming for a soft, smooth dough.
You will need to blind bake the pastry.
Blind Bake Pastry – Step by Instructions Made Easy
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.