The Pastry Tart

As satisfying as it can be to execute good pastry, it is at the same time, I’m sure, the most bloody infuriating food to work with. Crumbling apart while rolling it, sticking to every surface available, sinking to the bottom of the flan dish or burning to a crisp in the oven. Making pastry has the potential to be a f@!*ing nightmare! It always makes me chuckle watching my girlfriend making anything flour based in the kitchen, as soon as that flour pot comes out of the larder, stress levels immediately rise; at this point I usually make a swift and quiet exit out the kitchen. But it really doesn't have to be stressful, honestly...

To get pastry right, you have to get it wrong in pretty much every way possible first, and, when you start getting it right, you won’t stop making it. I’m fairly confident, now that I’ve cocked it up so many times, I think I have finally mastered it and I’m prepared to try and explain the process as best I can so you don’t have to cock it up!

Sweet Pastry

Note: Apologies for the length of this recipe but, there's a lot to explain here so read carefully!

250g of plain flour

125g of icing sugar

125g of butter diced and chilled

1 small capful of vanilla extract, or half a pod of vanilla scraped out.

Pinch of salt

2 large egg yolks.

You will also need a flat rimless baking tray.

A rolling pin

Cling Film

Baking parchment

Baking beans or copper coins

Flan dish with a wide rim and removable base

Now I’ve tried mixing the ingredients in a blender and I’m sure the results are not nearly as good as when mixed by hand so, to make it easier to mix by hand, the first thing to do is dice the butter up nice and small so the cubes are easy to work into the flour with your fingertips. Once you’ve diced the butter, put them in a bowl and leave in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. There’s a debated point in making pastry; whether to have soft butter or chilled butter? Having chilled butter I believe allows the mixture, when mixed by hand, to produce a nice crumbly texture before binding it together, which makes for a crisper shorter pastry when baked. Use soft butter and the butter will melt into the flour too quickly causing the gluten in the flour to start to stretch and mix and you will end up with a soft, doughy pastry when baked.

Sift the flour, followed by the icing sugar into a large bowl with a pinch of salt. Make a well in the center and add the diced butter, mix together with a knife so all the cubes of butter are coated in the flour. Start to mix the butter and flour, rubbing together with your fingertips, this part takes time but with patience will produce the best pastry. When the mixture starts to come together like fine breadcrumbs, stop, make a well in the center of the flour mix, and add the 2 egg yolks and the vanilla, mix together with a knife. Tip the whole lot out on a clean work surface and gently bring together, if the mixture feels too dry, add a desert spoon of cold water. Very briefly, gently kneed the mixture together with the palm of your hand, It’s important not to over need, only for about 20-30 seconds, you just want the pastry to bind together, a good point to stop is when the outside of the pastry just starts to become very slightly oily.

Flatten the ball of pastry slightly so as to allow it to chill evenly, wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 45 minutes.

Next we’re going to roll the pastry out on cling film (my AMAZING sister taught me this tip), reason being it will stop the pastry sticking to the surface and falling apart, it will also make it much easier to move around when we eventually put it in the flan tray. Lay a large enough peace of cling film on a clean surface followed by a second piece which, should overlap the first by about 10cm so as to give a good sized surface area to roll onto, dust sparingly with flour. Gently roll out the pastry on top of the cling film until it’s about the thickness of a pound coin and large enough to fit in the flan dish. Now, with your flat rimless baking tray, gently slide it under the cling film and pastry, place the flan dish upside down in the center of the pastry (can you see what’s gonna happen here yet?) then gently flip the whole thing upside down so the pastry is the right way up in the flan dish. Now, keep the cling film on and slowly smooth the pastry down the sides of the flan dish, gently pushing it into the sides with the back your knuckle. Remove the cling film when the pastry is evenly spread in the dish, cut off the excess pastry from the sides leaving about an inch hanging over the edges (we’ll cut this off after baking), then put the whole thing back in the fridge for 20 mins resting.

For the blind baking, cut enough baking parchment to fill the dish, crumple it up then flatten it out again, making it easier to fit in the dish. You can use either baking beans or copper pennies to place on top of the parchment to keep the pastry from rising, bake in a preheated oven at 140° for 20 minutes or until lightly golden in color, if you have a fan assisted oven it’s always a good idea to turn it at least twice during baking for an even color. Remove from the oven and take out the baking parchment, you’ll find that the base of the pastry is slightly fluffed up, with the back of a spoon gently smooth it down again then place back in the oven at a slightly lower temperature of 120° until the base of the pastry is crisp.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a baking rack. When the pastry has cooled trim up the edges with a sharp knife, the pastry casing should be nice and crisp now so no need to egg wash it or anything before adding what ever mixture you are using to it.