Day Two – Cherry Lime Tart – Easy Tart Crust
I am still a complete amature baker. One of my challenges is pie crust. I can never get it to stay up on the sides of the pan when I have to pre bake it.
I know I’m not alone here. It happens to everyone. But I want it to stop happening to me.
This is the first post for a crust for DD. I googled tips and tricks. I read several tutorials. I tried my best to get this crust perfect.
In all of my reading on making the perfect crust they all said to use pie weights. Pie Weights help to keep the crust from bubbling up as well as prevent side shrinkage. I do not have pie weight, so I opted for the “free version” of pie weights, and that’s to use beans and rice.
As you can see, I still ended up with my sides falling down. It’s not evident once I removed it from the pan, but I was still disappointed with it.
Here’s where I think I went wrong :
1. I let the butter get too small when pulsing in the Food Processor. You should still see butter pieces in crust.
2. I let the crust get too soft when I was working with it. When I took it out of the fridge the first time, it cracked. So I let it sit. I left it out too long and it was now too soft, so I re-rolled it and put it back into the fridge. I repeated this two times because I fail at multitasking.
3. I did forget to put it back into the fridge once it was in the tart pan. Again, back to the butter.
4. I used store brand butter. Store brand butter is not the best for baking treats that need to hold their shape – like sugar cookies and crusts. I should have used a good quality butter that has less water in it.
Lesson Learned.
I will try another crust and see if I can make it stay in place the next time.
If you have any tips and tricks to perfect pie/tart crust, please share them!
A touch of lime zest adds some character to this simple tart crust.
Ingredients
- Recipe fromSprinkleBakes: Dessert Recipes to Inspire Your Inner Artist
- 1 cup flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick cold butter
- 1 teaspoon lime zest
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon water
Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar and salt. Add in butter and lime zest and pulse again. The butter should not be over processed. Just pulse until small pea-sized butter lumps are present.
- Add the egg yolk, extract and water and pulse until a dough ball forms.
- Place the dough ball on a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Roll the dough into a 12 inch disk and place it in the fridge for 45 minutes to firm up.
- Generously grease your tart pan with solid shortening.
- Remove dough and press into tart crust. It will soften as you work it with your fingers. Return to fridge for another 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Remove tart from fridge and prick with a fork. Place a round piece of greased foil in the center of the tart completely covering the center. Add some pie weights or uncooked beans or rice to the top of the foil and bake for 20 minutes.
- Cool completely in the pan.
- Cover and refrigerate until you're ready to fill it.
Notes
Lemon Zest can be used in place of the lime.
This is really interesting! Looks great