My Sweet'Tart - Part 1

Creme Brulee Tart with mixed berries 

of Kiwi, Blackberry, Raspberry, Physalis (Cape Gooseberries), mission figs

I love tarts and pies. I can devour a whole layer. I can have another one the next day. They're like my Sweet'Tart (sweetheart) I can't get enough of them. Like decorating cakes I love working with my hands rolling out the dough and forming them on a pie tin. It's like a ritual. You can't rush it. It's all about the process.

When I was a kid pineapple pie was my favorite.  We use to go to this bakery to get that pie and it was always good! While in the car with the warm sweet smelling pie I'm salivating! So that's how I got interested making pies and tarts. I followed the recipe books and experimented. There were moments of failure and there were successes celebrated as well. It's a good feeling when you finally understand how and why things work! Learning is a process. It takes time. Repeat, observe, understand. Mastery.

Pies are versatile. Sweet or savory you can put anything in it. I love flaky crusts and the cookie crumbly ones. Different pies require different types of crust. there are open ones like tarts and closed ones like, well, an apple pie. So it all depends on the type of filling you are going to use. If you love baking these you may have a favorite recipe(s) for pies and tarts already so what I will share with you are a few tips working when working with your pie dough.

First off, start with a clean, flat surface to roll out your dough. Keep the dough cold but pliable. Meaning, it's soft enough to be rolled but cold enough that it will not fall apart. After you make your dough flatten it into a disk that's round, even in thickness and almost closest to the diameter or size of your pan. Why? When you're ready to roll out your dough it will not take so much work. Easy! This will also prevent the dough from being over worked, stay cool and not fall apart.

On Par-baking: once the pie dough is molded, as for tarts, put it back in the freeze. Freeze until solid. Preheat your oven. Make an egg wash. brush the insides of your tart shell with egg wash and bake. Tart shells made of pate sucree usually don't puff up too much so sometimes there is no need to blind-bake it. After 10 minutes of baking, take the shell out, brush the insides with egg wash, return to the oven to continue baking. Observe that after you brush the second layer of egg wash the slight puff on the center of the tart shell will collapse. Brushing with egg wash seal the cracks that might have developed when the crust expands. Repeat the process until your tart crust is golden brown. About 4 times.

More tips on Part 2