This is a recipe for a 9-inch tart pastry. Read tips, at the end of this post, before doing this. This recipe takes practice.Preparation Time : 25 minutes + chilling + cooling
Baking Time : 22 to 27 minutes
Printable Recipe
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp shortening
6 tbsp cold margarine or butter, cut up
Preparation
1. In large bowl, mix flour and salt. With pastry blender or two knives used scissor-fashion, cut in shortening and margarine until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
2. Sprinkle in only 2 to 3 tbsp cold water, a tablespoon at a time. Mix lightly with fork after each addition, until dough is just moist enough to hold together.
3. Shape dough into a ball. Wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes.
4. Roll dough round gently onto rolling pin; gently ease into pie plate.
5. Preheat oven to 425F. Line tart shell with aluminium foil, fill with pie weights (ie. uncooked rice, dry beans). Bake 15 minutes. Remove foil with weights, bake 7 to 12 minutes longer until golden. Cool completely on rack.
Tips for perfect pastry
- Start with cold ingredients. The kitchen should be cool too.
- Handle the dough as little as possible, or you'll overdevelop gluten in the flour and make tough crust.
- When cutting fat into flour, work quickly so fat remains firm and cold.
- Sprinkle in cold water just until dough is moistened. Toss quickly and lightly with a fork; do not stir. Use the least amount of water to avoid tough crust.
- Chilling dough for at least 30 minutes will make it easier to roll. Wrap tightly.
- To prevent sticking, roll it out on lightly floured surface.
A very easy way to cut shortening, etc., into flour for pie crust is to put the ingredients (usually flour, salt, and fat) into a plastic bowl with tight lid and shake, shake, shake it until you have crumbs and everything is perfectly mixed! Then sprinkle in the water a little at a time and fluff with a fork as directed!
ReplyDeleteThese are my old days with experimenting with baked goods ingredients. I stopped using shortening a long time ago, I'm a more experienced baker now. It still good to go back to my old posts and see how much I have evolved as a cook. For all my crusts, I now use cold butter, flour, pinch of salt and a few drops of cold water.
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