| Sweet Buttery Tart Crust | |
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| prep + cook time: 03:20 serves: 8 cost: $0.95 vegetarian |
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This crust is so sweet. We suspect it would taste great alone, although we have, in fact, always gone ahead and put either the Strawberry Chocolate or the Raspberry tart on top of it. |
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| 1 2/3 c unbleached all-purpose flour 1/4 c fine granulated sugar 1/2 t salt 1 1/4 sticks sweet butter, chilled |
Sift flour, sugar and salt into a mixing bowl. Cut chilled butter into pieces into the bowl. Using your fingertips, rapidly rub the butter and dry ingredients together until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Be c areful to use only your fingertips as your palms will warm the dough. |
| 2 egg yolks 1 t vanilla extract 2 t cold water |
Stir egg yolks, vanilla and water together and add to the flour-butter mixture and blend in, using a fork. Shape dough into a ball. This should not take more than 30 to 45 seconds. Place the ball of dough on a pastry board. With the heel of your hand, smear about 1/4 cup of the dough away from you into a 6- to 8-inch smear; repeat until all dough has been dealt with. Scrape dough together, reform into a ball, wrap in wax paper, an d chill for 2 to 3 hours. NOTE: If you are pressed for time, try chilling the dough in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Roll out dough between 2 sheets of wax paper, into a round large enough to line the pan. The dough will be very stiff, but you should work quickly or it can warm and become sticky. Line a 8- or 9-inch tart or pie pan with the dough, fitting it loosely into pan, and pressing it to fit sides. Trim edges 3/4" outside top of pan, and fold this edge over to inside, and press into place with fingers. You can also use a 9" springform pan . Fold the crust about 1" up from the bottom of the pan. Chill at least 30 minutes. Line dough with a piece of foil and weigh down with rice or beans. Bake for 8 minutes at 425. Remove foil and weights. Prick bottom of the dough with a fork in several places. Return to oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges are a light brown. NOTE : Our tart recipes call for fully baked shells. If you want a partially baked shell for a recipe that requires one, return the shell to the oven for only 3-4 minutes.
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| "Lust for tarts and other
wild women indicates a severe case of melon envy" Sigmund Freud |
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