Julia Child’s Fruit Tart Crust
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups flour – some say ½ cup of this should be cake flour, and 1 cup all purpose. When measuring out the flour, you should use the spoon and sprinkle method to make sure you are measuring aerated flour. I noted that one site claimed that the flour measurement was 1 and ⅓ cup – not 1 and ½ cup total. The original recipe in my JC Cookbook has 1 and ½ cups.
- 2 Tbsp. sugar
- ¼ – ½ tsp salt
- 8 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into mall pieces
- 3 Tbsp. cold vegetable shortening, or just add more butter
- 5 Tbsp. (⅓ cup) ice water, more or less
Instructions
- Put flour into a large bowl and mix in sugar and salt. ** Cut stick of butter in thirds the long way, and then again cut the slabs of butter in thirds as well. Cut into small pieces, like peas, so it incorporates well into the flour. Do the same with the extra 3 tbsp of shortening or butter, whichever you are using. ** You can also mix the sugar and salt into the water before you add it to the flour and butter mixture, but because the water is so cold and the sugar and salt don’t dissolve easily in cold water, I found that it was easier to mix the sugar and salt in at the beginning.
- Using a rubber spatula or pastry blender, work butter and shortening into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. I have done this using the food processor, just be careful not to over due the blending. Pulse 4-5 times at most.
- Add 4 tbsp. iced water, 5 Tbsp if it doesn’t turn into a ball, and blend quickly with one hand, fingers held together and slightly cupped, as you rapidly gather the dough into a mass. Then press dough firmly into a rough-shaped ball. It should just hold together and be pliable but not sticky. If you are using the food processor, pour in the ice water in one dump and pulse a few times until the dough comes together. Then stop. Do not over blend.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. With the heel of one hand, not the palm (which is too warm), rapidly press pastry by two-spoonful bits down on floured surface and away from you in a firm, quick smear of about 6″. Gather dough together, then knead it briefly into a fairly smooth round ball. Sprinkle it lightly with flour and wrap in waxed paper. Either freeze dough for 1 hour or refrigerate it for 2 hours or overnight before using. I often put it on plastic wrap and make a round of the dough – as wide as the plastic wrap. It gets cold faster in the fridge, and is also almost the right size to put into your tart pan as it is. Then roll it out after it is cold, and follow the directions for cooking
- Preheat oven to 425. I have also seen 375, and I prefer a lower heat so the edges don’t brown too much. Take your chilled dough and roll it out in the plastic wrap (or parchment paper) and take one side of wrap off. Put it into the tart pan and peel off other side. Put a new piece in lightly on top of the crust and fill it with rice or beans or small stones. Bake until the edges begin to brown lightly. 10-20 minutes or so. Remove the pie weights, prick the bottom of the tart with a fork in several places, and continue baking the tart crust a few more minutes until the center of the crust is golden. Cool before filling.