360 grams unsalted butter, room temperature, softened
150 grams powdered sugar, sifted
4 egg yolks
50 ml cold water
500 gram flour, sifted
a pinch of cooking salt
Place the butter and powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.
Mix together at a low speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated into the butter and the mixture is smooth. Take care not to aerate too much; it shouldn't be pale and fluffy. This step should take right about a minute.
In a separate bowl, combine the 4 egg yolks and water.
With the mixer on low, add the egg yolks and water mixture to the butter mixture bit by bit. At this stage the mixture may look as through it has separated. It will come together once the flour is added.
Now turn off the mixer, then tip in the flour and salt. On low speed, work in the flour and salt until the mixture just comes together and is crumbly. Do not overwork at this stage as the gluten in the flour will activate and the pastry could become tough. This step should only take about a minute.
Tip the contents of the bowl onto a work surface. Working very quickly, gather the pastry together into a smooth ball. Divide the pastry into half. Between two layers of cling wrap, roll the dough out as thin as you need. It'll be easier to roll out now versus when it's chilled. Refrigerate until chilled all the way through. (This pastry freezes well. Freeze the portion you don't use. Remove from the freezer and thaw overnight in the fridge before rolling out.)
Lining the Tart Rings
Once the pastry has chilled (at least 30 minutes), roll out the pastry between two sheets of baking paper until 1/16" thick. For a larger tart, roll the pastry out to 1/8" thick.
Cut pastry large enough to line the tart ring. Ease the pastry into the ring, and gently press the dough to the corners of the ring. It is extremely important (and the hardest step) to make sure the pastry is perfectly flush along the corner and sides of the ring. Make sure not to make too much indentations with your fingers. Trim off the excess pastry. Prick the pastry with a fork.
At this stage, I usually like to cover the pastry with plastic wrap and freeze it overnight. I find that baking the pastry from when it’s completely frozen helps minimize shrinkage.
To blind bake
Preheat the oven to 355F.
Scrunch up a piece of baking paper, straighten it out, then line the paper over the frozen tart shell. Fill with uncooked rice all the way to the top. Bake for 18 minutes (or 25 minutes for larger tart).
Remove from oven, tip out the rice and remove the baking paper. Return to the oven for 5 minutes or until the pastry is golden.
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