Sweet Buttery Tart Crust Recipe

How to make it

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• Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a mixing bowl
• Cut the chilled butter into pieces into the bowl.
• Using your fingertips, rapidly rub the butter and dry ingredients together until the mixture resembles coarse meal -
• Be careful to use only your fingertips as your palms will warm the dough.
• Stir the egg yolks, vanilla and water together and add to the flour-butter mixture and blend in, using a fork.
• Shape the dough into a ball -
• This should not take more than 30 to 45 seconds.
• Place the ball of dough on a pastry board.
• With the heel of your hand, smear about 1/4 cup of the dough away from you into a 6- to 8-inch smear; repeat until all the dough has been smeared.
• Scrape the dough together, re-form into a ball, wrap in wax paper, and chill for 2 to 3 hours.
• Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of wax paper (or use a floured pastry cloth and floured stockinette on your rolling pin) into a round large enough to line your pan.
• Work quickly, as the dough can become sticky.
• Line an 8- or 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan with the dough, fitting it loosely into the pan and pressing to fit the sides
• Trim the edges 3/4 inch outside the top of the pan, fold this edge over to the inside, and press into place with your fingers.
• Cover and chill.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
• Line the dough in the tart pan with a piece of aluminum foil or parchment paper and weight it with beans or rice.
• Bake for 8 minutes.
• Remove the foil and beans (re-use beans for blind baking only).
• Pierce the bottom of the dough with a fork in several places.
• For a -partially baked- shell, return to the oven for 3 to 4 minutes longer.
• For a -fully baked- shell, bake until the edges are a light brown, 8 to 10 minutes longer.