French Tart Dough

[Kerry Beal]

I got an e-mail today talking about David's new book - it was a pretty quiet day on the internet so I read the e-mail all the way to the bottom - and saw a link for this French Tart Dough.

Well I must say it intrigued me - I've been looking for a crust to use with my caramelized red onion, balsamic vinegar and bleu cheese tarts. My standard tart dough bakes up too puffy and leaves very little space in the tiny tart shells for the filling. This looked like it might make a nice thin crust and from the pictures looked like it would blind bake without the need for anything lining the shell.

So I changed the recipe a little - I used half lard, half butter and cut back on the sugar to about 2 tsp. It was cool enough to work with very quickly after mixing. I took small walnut sized pieces and used my little wooden tart tamper dipped in some flour to press them into the tart molds. I pricked the bottoms with a small fork, and baked them for about 12 minutes at 350º F.

For a first try, these were wonderful - nice thin pastry - no shrinkage. Perhaps a bit thick on the bottom, but I think that's just a matter of a smaller piece of dough. I made a small batch of lemon/lime curd with the one lemon and one lime I had in the fridge and served the tarts for dessert with a spoonful of curd.

So next time around for savory tarts I'll cut the sugar back to 1 tsp and use a bit less dough per tart.

This dough is so quick and easy - I highly recommend you give it a try. I can see it will be useful in a variety of applications - the full butter version would be great as the base of a simple fruit tart.

[Emily_R]

So glad to hear your success with this recipe! I printed it out as soon as I saw it on his blog, as it looked like a winner. Now I know its been Kerry tested and David approved! :-)

[Marmish]

I JUST saw that today, too and thought it looked interesting. I'm currently looking for an excuse to make one. Glad it turned out well for you. Definitely up next.

[ElsieD]

I got an e-mail today talking about David's new book - it was a pretty quiet day on the internet so I read the e-mail all the way to the bottom - and saw a link for this French Tart Dough.

Well I must say it intrigued me - I've been looking for a crust to use with my caramelized red onion, balsamic vinegar and bleu cheese tarts.  My standard tart dough bakes up too puffy and leaves very little space in the tiny tart shells for the filling.  This looked like it might make a nice thin crust and from the pictures looked like it would blind bake without the need for anything lining the shell.

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Kerry, that filling sounds interesting.  Any chance you could post it?

Elsie

[Kerry Beal]

I got an e-mail today talking about David's new book - it was a pretty quiet day on the internet so I read the e-mail all the way to the bottom - and saw a link for this French Tart Dough.

Well I must say it intrigued me - I've been looking for a crust to use with my caramelized red onion, balsamic vinegar and bleu cheese tarts.  My standard tart dough bakes up too puffy and leaves very little space in the tiny tart shells for the filling.  This looked like it might make a nice thin crust and from the pictures looked like it would blind bake without the need for anything lining the shell.

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Kerry, that filling sounds interesting.  Any chance you could post it?

Elsie

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Don't have any quantities -

Thinly slice some red onions and caramelize in a bit of butter and olive oil. Add some balsamic vinegar. Set aside to cool. Make a custard with an egg and some heavy cream. Put some onions in the already baked tart, pour a bit of custard over, top with a chunk of bleu cheese (I used danish mild). Bake at 350 until cheese starts to melt. Top with a bit more onion.

[ElsieD]

I got an e-mail today talking about David's new book - it was a pretty quiet day on the internet so I read the e-mail all the way to the bottom - and saw a link for this French Tart Dough.

Well I must say it intrigued me - I've been looking for a crust to use with my caramelized red onion, balsamic vinegar and bleu cheese tarts.  My standard tart dough bakes up too puffy and leaves very little space in the tiny tart shells for the filling.  This looked like it might make a nice thin crust and from the pictures looked like it would blind bake without the need for anything lining the shell.

←

Kerry, that filling sounds interesting.  Any chance you could post it?

Elsie

←

Don't have any quantities -

Thinly slice some red onions and caramelize in a bit of butter and olive oil. Add some balsamic vinegar. Set aside to cool. Make a custard with an egg and some heavy cream. Put some onions in the already baked tart, pour a bit of custard over, top with a chunk of bleu cheese (I used danish mild). Bake at 350 until cheese starts to melt. Top with a bit more onion.

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That sounds yummy. I will have to try this. Thank you!

Elsie

[gfron1]

Alrighty - made the shell today. It is nice and I will definitely use it again. The downside is that it may not give you the control you need for a professional shell. But, as Kerry said, little or no shrinkage, which was very nice. I went ahead and pressed it in, trimmed it, froze it, then blind baked with weights to do my best to get a clean finish, and here is what I ended up with.

You can see - not bad, but not perfect. I could probably have spent more time on it, but...

Anyway, it got filled and eaten for pre-dinner

[maggiethecat]

Thanks, Kerry. Demain.

[weinoo]

Whoa - this is so wild. It goes against what I've been reading about tart doughs for so long - cold butter, cold flour, cold, cold, cold.

And I can't wait to try it.

[gfron1]

I just want to re-emphasize that is good, but not as good. I won't use it in my cafè very often, but at home for a quick tart - sure. Just the same as my choices to use Valrhona for some things and Callebaut for others...its a slippery slope my friends!

[chocoera]

I got an e-mail today talking about David's new book - it was a pretty quiet day on the internet so I read the e-mail all the way to the bottom - and saw a link for this French Tart Dough.

Well I must say it intrigued me - I've been looking for a crust to use with my caramelized red onion, balsamic vinegar and bleu cheese tarts.  My standard tart dough bakes up too puffy and leaves very little space in the tiny tart shells for the filling.  This looked like it might make a nice thin crust and from the pictures looked like it would blind bake without the need for anything lining the shell.

So I changed the recipe a little - I used half lard, half butter and cut back on the sugar to about 2 tsp.  It was cool enough to work with very quickly after mixing.  I took small walnut sized pieces and used my little wooden tart tamper dipped in some flour to press them into the tart molds.  I pricked the bottoms with a small fork, and baked them for about 12 minutes at 350º F. 

For a first try, these were wonderful - nice thin pastry - no shrinkage.  Perhaps a bit thick on the bottom, but I think that's just a matter of a smaller piece of dough.  I made a small batch of lemon/lime curd with the one lemon and one lime I had in the fridge and served the tarts for dessert with a spoonful of curd. 

So next time around for savory tarts I'll cut the sugar back to 1 tsp and use a bit less dough per tart. 

This dough is so quick and easy - I highly recommend you give it a try.  I can see it will be useful in a variety of applications - the full butter version would be great as the base of a simple fruit tart.

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this carmalized onion tart you talk of....is that the stuff you made at the conference? do you have the recipes for those two baby tarts for our "legend" dinner? (one was onion, one had apricot something on it.) anyway...for tarts, at least sweet ones, i love pierre's almond tart dough in his chocolate dessert book. super easy, and great flavor. but i'll give this one a try with my next tart! process looks easy enough... (famous last words?!)

[Kerry Beal]

this carmalized onion tart you talk of....is that the stuff you made at the conference?  do you have the recipes for those two baby tarts for our "legend" dinner?  (one was onion, one had apricot something on it.) anyway...for tarts, at least sweet ones, i love pierre's almond tart dough in his chocolate dessert book.  super easy, and great flavor.  but i'll give this one a try with my next tart! process looks easy enough...  (famous last words?!)

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Yup - those were the onion tarts I made for the conference. The others at the confrence were bleu cheese with a bit of custard - baked - then topped with some apricot jam.

[gfron1]

Quick note. This morning I subbed hazelnut oil and did it stove top. When I made it the other day my arm ached as if I were doing pate choux which made me think I could go stove top. I'll post results later today after I bake.

[gfron1]

Done. No discernible difference except the slightly nutty taste from the oil.