Between the sheets I sometimes (rarely) roll

between paper, but doing this can help beginners.

Start rolling with the paper on the underside only,
then dust with flour and add the top sheet. If the
dough stops widening, you are mashing it – peel
back the paper, dust, flip and dust the other side
to keep the dough flow.

Lining the tin: everyone should
put pastry in the corner
A non-negotiable procedure: tuck the pastry deep
into the corner of the tin (where the side meets the
base). If you have an air pocket between the tin
and the dough, it will drop during the bake and the
crust won’t sit as high (and will hold less filling).

To hug the curves: fold a section of dough back
towards the centre, then push (don’t stretch) the
fold into the corner. Once it hits the corner,
flop the folded dough back up the side of the tin.

The dough-over If you have really made a mess,

collect up the stoopid, smeary dough and lightly
push it together. Chill it and your inner frustration
and start again. You can dough it!

Circle of crust Sometimes your cutter may be too

small for a small tartlet tin. So, roll the dough a
little thicker, stamp out your circle, then roll that
cut circle out a little wider.

Scrappy dough I will always allow some extra

dough for ease of rolling. Brisee butter crust
(page 71) and Yoghurt rough puff (page 74)
offcuts can be stacked and layered to make
savoury hand-pie circles. Fill with your favourite
cheesy greens mix or leftover slow-roasted lamb.

The Crème fraîche shortbread crust (page 68) will
make lovely wee jammy tart shells, or bake the
scraps and crush for streusel.

A big chill Chilling before blind-baking for butter

crusts is non-negotiable. And make it a minimum
24-hour freeze – this will dramatically reduce the
shrinkage.

Baking blind Place your frozen tart shell on a

heavy baking tray (one that won’t buckle). Line
the inside with a double layer of aluminium foil
(paper isn’t as snug), with the dull side touching the
dough. Push it closely to the sides and deep in the
corners, as you did when lining the tart tin. Fold
the foil up and over the sides to protect the edge.

Fill the foil with 750–900 g (1 lb 11 oz–2 lb) caster
(superfine) sugar – thanks Stella Parks ( BraveTart )
for this tip! Large dried beans such as chickpeas or
kidney beans are my second choice. Bake per the
dough recipe (they all ask for a slightly different
time/temperature), keeping the foil on until almost
the end for a final browning. Lift the foil/sugar
throughout the blind bake to check the base for
doneness – it should be biscuity brown with no
sign of pale, raw, moist dough.

The blind-baking sugar can be reused a few times,
or sift and use as toasted sugar in cookie or
cake recipes.

Tart removal See Total release of the tart

(page 95).
Dough it early
Lessen bake stress – plan ahead and roll and
freeze your raw dough, lightly covered, for up to
3 months. A blind-baked crust can sit overnight –
leave the foil on to protect it.
sunken when
baked
retains height
when baked
air pocket will collapse and
pastry will drop/shrink
fold edge of pastry into centre,
then fold back