MAKES ONE 9-INCH TART SHELL
This is Amy’s basic recipe for a single 9-inch tart shell. If you are making two shells, make the recipe twice as opposed to doubling it.
The dough is exceptionally easy to work with, neither too stiff nor too crumbly. For tips on rolling it out and transferring it to the pan, see page 471.
3 ounces (¾ stick) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
¼ cup sugar
2 extra-large egg yolks
1 cup all-purpose flour
Never toss the odd bits of tart shell dough that are leftover after the rolling and shaping. Instead, dip them in sugar and bake them as cookies—a great prize for the baker!
1. In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, 3 to 4 minutes.
2. Add the egg yolks and mix until smooth and well blended. Add the flour and mix until blended.
3. Gather together the dough and press it out into a thick disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm but malleable, at least 1 hour.
4. To roll out the dough, sprinkle the work surface and the top of the disk with 1½ tablespoons flour. Roll the dough into an even ⅛-inch-thick circle with a 12-inch diameter. Periodically rotate the dough on the board and dust the top as needed to prevent sticking.
5. Fold the dough in half, center it in a 9-inch tart pan, and unfold. Or, reverse-roll the dough over the pin and unroll over the tart pan, leaving about a 2-inch hem all around. Using your fingers, gently fit the dough into the sides of pan. Fold the hem into the shell so that the trimmed edge meets the bottom where it joins the wall. (This forms a wall that is twice as thick as the bottom.) Press the folded edge gently into the sides of the pan, then go around the inside of the pan again with the side of the first finger, pressing the lower wall to the pan. With the corner of a pastry scraper or knife, trim the excess dough even with the top of the pan, cutting away from the center of the tart in brisk movements to form a clean edge.
6. Cover the shell with plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before filling and baking. (The shell can be refrigerated overnight or frozen for up to 2 weeks.)
7. To prebake the tart shell: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Move a rack to the middle position of the oven.
8. Line the bottom of the tart shell with a double thickness of aluminum foil. Weigh down with pie weights or dried beans. Fold the foil over the beans to expose the rim of the shell. Bake the shell for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and weights. If the recipe calls for a partially baked tart shell, return the shell to the oven for 5 to 10 minutes, until the bottom is dry; if the recipe calls for a fully baked shell, return the shell to the oven and bake until the bottom and the edges are golden, 10 to 15 minutes.
Only a few tools are required to make professional-quality tarts and tartlets:
• For large tarts, use a 9-inch tart pan that is 1 inch deep and has a removable bottom. For tartlets, you’ll need a total of 8 removable-bottom tartlet pans 4 inches in diameter and ¾ inch deep. Both should be made of stainless steel.
• To weigh down the tart shell for the initial prebaking, use a large double layer of lightweight aluminum foil that overhangs the shell by about 1 inch. You’ll also need several cups of dried beans or metal or ceramic pie weights to keep the shell from buckling while it bakes.
• A slender, so-called French rolling pin that is about 20 inches long and tapered at the ends will speed and ease the job of rolling the dough. It is a lightweight tool that is particularly appropriate for rolling a thin crust. A larger pin on ball bearings will do the job, but it is a bit like using a steamroller to squash a bug.
• A good-size cooling rack is important. The bottom of the tart pan is independent of the sides, so if you perch it on a small cookie rack the outer ring can pull away prematurely and tear the crust. If you don’t own a large rack, simply use your second oven rack; pull it out before turning on the oven.
• A cardboard cake circle on which to slide the tart and a flexible metal baker’s spatula to release the tart from the bottom of the pan are both extremely useful. The cardboard circles are 9 inches in diameter, ⅛ inch thick, and can be bought at a good kitchenware shop (or from a friendly restaurant or bake shop). The flexible spatula has a blade 9- to 10-inches long and about 1 inch wide. It is a relatively inexpensive cook shop purchase. You can (and I have) cut the tart directly in the pan, but you dull your knife and scratch the pan in the process. Likewise, you can jimmy around with a pancake-flipper to release the tart from the base, but it’s a clumsy, inefficient tool. So if you think you have a career in tarts, invest in these two items.
• For slicing even freshly baked tarts quickly and neatly, nothing beats a long, serrated slicing knife. It’s best if the blade is a full 12 inches long; then you can cut across the diameter with a single easy stroke.
