Drag all of pile B back to 4 o’clock and smear it again. Do this four
to eight times (kitchen temperature dependent – it will take far less
time in a warm kitchen) until the dough does two things: 1. The VERY
dry shaggy patches disappear, and 2. The dough forms an almost
cohesive mass when softly squeezed together. It’s okay if a few dry,
shaggy bits remain.

Wrap loosely in plastic wrap and firmly squeeze into a flat, fat disc –
this will be the final step in bringing the dough together, and the
dough will feel like quite stiff playdough. Chill the dough overnight
to hydrate fully.

To roll, bring the dough to cool and pliable temperature (around
15–30 minutes at room temperature) and place it on a lightly floured
surface. Press the dough out a little with the palm of your hand to
ease it into the start of rolling. This helps to prevent large cracks. Give
the dough one or two short pressured rolls with the pin before lifting
and moving the dough 90 degrees, making the rolls longer as the
dough circle widens. Dust underneath the dough at regular intervals
to prevent sticking.

For a 24 cm (9½ in) round × 4 cm (1½ in) tart tin, roll out the dough
to a 35 cm (13¾ in) circle, about 4 mm (⅛ in) thick. Trim, then gently
lift and flop the dough into the tin.

If you’re making smaller tarts and need to re-roll, stack the offcuts and
press together. Rest for 10 minutes and re-roll once only. The shrinkage
gets worse with each re-roll.

Working in sections, tuck the dough right into the corner and against
the side of the tart tin to prevent air pockets, then use your fingers to
push the excess dough off the top. For individual tins, cut circles slightly
larger than the tins and line in the same way, cutting off the excess.

If lining a classic pie dish, loosely position the side dough on the lip, then
press the excess off. Take a wooden skewer and deeply press lines along the
lip at around 1 cm (½ in) intervals, radiating out.

Freeze for at least 1 hour before blind baking.

To blind bake, preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F). Cover the frozen
dough with a large piece of aluminium foil (dull side down), tucking it
snugly into the corner of the tin. Fill the foil liner with approximately
750 g (1 lb 11 oz) caster (superfine) sugar, then place the tart shell
on a heavy baking tray. Reduce the heat to 170°C (340°F) and bake
for 1 hour until the crust base is a fully realised tan brown colour. If
the base crust is still a little pale, remove the foil and return to the
oven for 5 minutes – watching closely until the crust base reaches
peak crisp and brown.