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Tart Tampers


Kerry Beal

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I made 4 dozen little tarts for the eG Confectionery Conference dinner last week. I used the french tart dough described in David Lebovitz's site -here.

I used my little round wooden tart tamper to form the shells - but I'm not really satisfied with the job it does. I went online and noticed there seem to be a variety of tampers available, some wood, some metal, some plastic. Shapes vary from round to 'tart' shaped.

So what should I get to replace my rather disappointing round wooden one - to get the best results when making little tarts?

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The mini tart shell. :hmmm: I committed to making a very large number of mini tarts for a local event. By the time I was done, I hoped I would be committed if I ever volunteered to do that again. :raz: I have a wooden tamper but I usually just give them a quick press with that and fine tune them with my fingers because I'm not happy with the result trying to press them completely with the tamper I have. Some doughs seem to work better if I roll them out and use a round cutter then drop them in the pans. I try to use doughs that don't have too much trouble with shrinking or puffing because lining and weighting all those little buggers is even more time consuming than forming them.

It's kinda like wrestling a gorilla... you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is tired.

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The mini tart shell. :hmmm: I committed to making a very large number of mini tarts for a local event. By the time I was done, I hoped I would be committed if I ever volunteered to do that again. :raz: I have a wooden tamper but I usually just give them a quick press with that and fine tune them with my fingers because I'm not happy with the result trying to press them completely with the tamper I have. Some doughs seem to work better if I roll them out and use a round cutter then drop them in the pans. I try to use doughs that don't have too much trouble with shrinking or puffing because lining and weighting all those little buggers is even more time consuming than forming them.

Omg, I SO agree!

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The dough I linked to on David Lebovitz's site is excellent in terms of not shrinking or puffing. So at least I don't need to line or weight the tarts.

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I have a glass tamper that was originally intended for chemical laboratory use (for what exactly I'm not sure - probably for packing chems), and I absolutely love it. The extra bonus is that I can freeze it before I start making tarts, which is extra-good because my dough recipe works best when it's maintained cool until baking.

Elizabeth Campbell, baking 10,000 feet up at 1° South latitude.

My eG Food Blog (2011)My eG Foodblog (2012)

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I have a glass tamper that was originally intended for chemical laboratory use (for what exactly I'm not sure - probably for packing chems), and I absolutely love it. The extra bonus is that I can freeze it before I start making tarts, which is extra-good because my dough recipe works best when it's maintained cool until baking.

Rounded on the end? Maybe a pestle for a mortar and pestle?

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Rounded on the end, but not a pestle (although I do use my large marble pestle for larger tarts). It's basically just a rounded glass rod, fairly thick, that fits perfectly into my mini-tart pan.

Elizabeth Campbell, baking 10,000 feet up at 1° South latitude.

My eG Food Blog (2011)My eG Foodblog (2012)

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For larger tarts I use a batticarne but for the little ones I use a heavy glass tumbler that has a perfectly flat bottom.

"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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For larger tarts I use a batticarne but for the little ones I use a heavy glass tumbler that has a perfectly flat bottom.

Batticarne=meat pounder?

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For larger tarts I use a batticarne but for the little ones I use a heavy glass tumbler that has a perfectly flat bottom.

Batticarne=meat pounder?

Yes, this one. It's only been used for pastry. My other meat pounders are a little larger and have longer handles in a different configuration.

This one is Made in Italy and I've had it for at least 25 years - before I moved up here.

It weighs 24 ounces so its own weight helps with the task.

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"There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!" Terry Pratchett

 

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  • 2 years later...

Kerry, did you ever find a good tamper that you're happy with? Am looking for one, too. I cannot use the tart shell, because I use rings. And cannot use a tumbler because the rings are small, and I don't have a tumbler to fit them, I'd have to buy a set. And then I might as well buy the tamper.

Hubster has a SS tamper that he uses when he makes his espresso, but the surface is ever so slightly convex, and it is very heavy. Not sure if I could use this without squishing the dough. Andiesenji's batticarne looks perfectly level.

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