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1
Put the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a food processor and pulse to combine.
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2
Add the butter to the processor.
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3
Pulse until the mixture is crumbly.
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4
Add 1/2 cup of the milk and pulse again, until the dough starts to come together.
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5
Turn the dough out into a bowl and gather it into a ball.
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6
If the dough is still a bit dry, add a little more milk, tossing the dough with your fingers.
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7
You may not need all the milk.
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8
Shape the dough into a brick, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using.
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9
The dough will keep for about 3 days in the refrigerator and for several months in the freezer.
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10
Defrost before rolling.
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11
Most of the tart shells in this book are blind-bakedthat is, baked without a filling and cooled.
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12
The result is crisp pastry.
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13
In a restaurant kitchen, we bake a lot of tart shells, so there are a couple of tricks I can share.
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14
Im always looking for a quick and easy way to weight the dough when blind-baking.
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15
Parchment paper and dried beans work well for large tarts: Cut a circle of parchment a couple of inches larger than your mold and then cut into the circle at 1-inch intervals to fit the paper into the dough-lined mold.
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16
Fill with beans, which you can reuse infinitely, and youre ready to go.
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17
However, parchment is a little too stiff to fit easily into small tart rings, so often Ill cut down small coffee filtersthe ones with flat bottomsand fill them with rice.
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18
You could use muffin tin liners just as easily.
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19
But more often than not, Ill use disposable 4-ounce aluminum molds or baking cups filled with rice for 2 1/4-inch tarts.
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20
Wrap them in aluminum foil so you can use them over and over.
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21
I always glaze tart shells after theyre baked.
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22
It seals the pastry, helps make sure it wont get soggy, and gives it a great look.
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23
As soon as the pastry comes out of the oven, remove the weight, brush the tart shell with egg wash (an egg and an egg yolk beaten with a pinch of salt), and put it back in the oven for another minute.
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24
Then let the tart shells cool before filling.
