Shortcrust Tart Pastry Shell

• Combine dry ingredients - Add the flour, sugar and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine.
• Add cold butter - Add the cold butter, hold down the top of the mixer to stop it wobbling and pulse on high speed until the mixture resembles sand, about 2-3 minutes.
• Add eggs and water - Whisk the egg yolk, water and vanilla extract in a bowl and pour into the mixture while the mixer is on high speed. Continue mixing until the mixture begins clumping together to the size of peas. As soon as that happens stop the mixer.
• Fraisage - Pour the mixture onto your benchtop and press together to form a dough ball. Use the heel of your hand to smear small portions of the dough against the bench. You only need to do this a couple times. This helps make sure the dough is evenly mixed and uniform.
• Forming dough and chill (60 minutes) - Form the dough into a ball shape and place on a large piece of plastic wrap. Press down to flatten making sure it’s still a round disc shape. Place in the fridge to chill for 60 minutes. You can make this a day in advance.
• Roll out the dough - I like rolling my dough on a pastry mat but if you don’t have one you can roll it out in between two large pieces of baking paper. To roll it out, use a rolling pin to slowly roll dough from the center outwards rotating the disc 90 degrees every time you roll it. If using baking paper, peel the baking paper away every time you roll and place back on to avoid creases which can cause the dough to crack after it’s chilled. Pinch together any cracks that might form on the outside as you roll it. You want to roll it out to 32cm / 13-inches in diameter and about 3-4mm in thickness.
• Transfer dough over tin - Gently roll the dough over the rolling pin and unroll over a 23cm / 9.5-inch tart tin with removable bottom.
• Forming the tart - Gently lift the dough over the tart tin to allow it to naturally fall into the bottom corners of the tin. Use your fingers to encourage it to get right into the corner bottom of the tart tin. You don’t want to stretch it or it will shrink as it bakes and become uneven. Make sure there are no air pockets, and everything is down neatly. Use a sharp knife to slice away any excess dough or roll the rolling pin over the top to cute away the excess dough and then use your fingers to gently pinch into neater top.
• Chill your tart (60 minutes) - Place the tart in the fridge to chill for a final 60 minutes. If chilling overnight, loosely cover with plastic.
• Preheat a fan forced oven to 165C / 300F (185C / 365F for no fan).
• Dock the tart - Place the tart tin on a baking tray. Use a fork to prick holes into the bottom of the tart shell. This will prevent your tart from puffing as it bakes.
• Blind baking your tart shell - Scrunch up a large piece of baking paper and then un-scrunch and place on the inside of the tart. Fill with baking beads, dried chickpeas or dry rice. Bake for 30 minutes. Take it out of the oven, carefully and slowly lift out the beads using the corners of the baking paper. Place them into a bowl or container to cool down for re-use.
• Second bake - Pop the tart back in the oven to bake for a final 20 minutes or until it’s lightly golden brown.
• Sealing the tart - Brush lightly with egg wash (1 egg whisked with 1/2 tsp cream). Bake for a final 5 minutes. Allow to cool before adding your filling. You can add a filling that needs more baking or let the tart cool completely and add a no-bake filling like a pastry cream.
• How to get a perfectly even top - Use a zester or very sharp grater to gently shave away any bumps or imperfections of the top of the tart shell once it’s completely cooled. Just got slow and don’t press too hard or the tart shell may crack.