Published January 1, 2000.
For our sweet tart pastry recipe, we found that a single egg yolk and a tablespoon of cream gave the dough the necessary richness. Confectioners’ sugar produced a melt-in-your mouth texture in this recipe, which is formally known as pâte sucrée. Rolling the dough between sheets of plastic or parchment ensures that our sweet tart pastry recipe is easy to handle. Chill the dough and then blind-bake it before filling it with lemon curd or another filling.
If the dough feels too firm when you’re ready to roll it out, let it stand at room temperature for a few minutes. If, on the
other hand, the dough becomes soft and sticky while rolling, don’t hesitate to rechill it until it becomes easier to work
with. Better to rechill than to add too much flour, which will damage the delicate, crisp texture of the dough. We find a
French rolling pin (as pictured in illustrations) to be the most precise instrument for rolling tart pastry. Bake the tart shell
in a 9- to 9 ½-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and fluted sides about 1 to 1 1/8 inches high. This recipe is formally
known as Pâte Sucrée.
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