Best 4 Michels Basic Tart Crust Recipes

EASY TART CRUST

Steps:

• Blend flour and salt in processor. Add butter; using on/off turns, cut in until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 3 tablespoons ice water and cream. Process just until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill 1 hour. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. Soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)

BASIC PIE DOUGH

Steps:

• To prepare the dough by hand, combine the flour and salt in a stainless steel bowl, using a pastry knife mix well.
• Add the cold butter cubes to the flour and mix in until the mixture begins to resemble a mealy mixture where the butter forms pea sized nuggets plainly visible in the flour. Add only enough ice water to pull the dough together. The water should be added to the flour slowly to ensure that only the minimum amount of water is used. Do not over mix the dough. When the dough has been mixed just sufficiently to combine the ingredients, form it into a ball and wrap in a piece of plastic and refrigerate for several hours.
• When ready to use, lightly flour a pastry board and a rolling pin, and unwrap the dough. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces and begin to roll out the first piece into the bottom crust.
• Tamp down the dough with the pin and gently begin to roll out into a circular pie shape by rolling evenly outward from the center and turning the dough in small 1/8th turns to keep the rolling even. When the dough is rolled out to an even thickness and is about 12 inches and is about 1/8th-inch thick it is ready to be transferred to a 10-inch pie tin.
• Lightly butter the tin, lift the dough with the rolling pin by partially rolling the dough up on the pin, center the dough in the tin and unroll. Pierce it in several places with the tines of a fork.
• Roll the second half of the pie dough into a round shape slightly larger than the pie pan. Fill the bottom crust with your chosen fruit filling. Cover the filling, such as apple, with the top half of the pie dough. Using both hands, crimp the edges of the two crusts together to seal. With a sharp knife, make several crosshatch slits in the top crust. Brush with the egg wash and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 20 minutes.

BASIC TART CRUST

Steps:

• In a food processor combine flour and salt. Add butter and pulse until butter is the size of peas. Whisk together the yolk and 1/2 cup cold water. Drizzle the liquid into the food processor while pulsing to combine. Pulse until dough holds together when you pinch it, adding liquid as needed.
• Turn dough onto a shet of plastic wrap and from into a ball. Divide in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap, flattening into a disk. Chill until cold or ready to use, about 30 minutes.
• On a floured surface roll dough until it's 3/16 inch thick and large enough to fit in the tart pan. (Pinch edges of dough as you roll to prevent cracks and tears.) Place dough into tart pan; gently lift into place without stretching and press into pan. Use the heel of you hand or a rolling pin to trim the edges flush with the pan. If blind baking, freeze crust about 20 minutes.
• For blind baking, heat oven to 375 degrees F. Line the chilled crust with aluminum foil, pressing foil into the corners. Fill with pie weights or dried beans and place on a baking sheet. Bake until crust is set and just starting to brown, about 30 minutes. Remove foil lining and weights and return crust to oven to brown evenly, 5 to 10 minutes more. Cool completely, then remove from tart pan. Makes 2 Single Crusts.
• CHEESE AND HERB CRUST VARIATION FOR TOMATO TART: Add 1/2 cup grated Gruyere or Jarlsberg cheese and 2 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano or thyme to the food processor with the flour and salt. Proceed with recipe as directed.

MINCEMEAT CRUMBLE TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400'.
• Using a fork; Combine Butter, Flour and Sugar. Blend until the mixture looks like small peas (flour will be totally incorportated).
• While the tart shells are still frozen, spoon about 1 tbsp of Mincemeat into each one. Using the back of a spoon, smooth over the Mincemeat to create a flat surface.
• Spinkle the top of each tart with approximately 1 tbsp of the Crumble. Do NOT press down.
• Bake at 400' for 15 minutes or until edges of the pastry shell are lightly browned.