Egg-free tart pastry
A lightly sweet tart base made with flour, butter and cold water, with no egg.
Ingredients
- 180 g plain flour
- 2 tbsp (about 25 g) caster sugar
- 100 g cold butter, cut into small cubes
- 70 ml cold water
- 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla powder
Method
- Put the flour, sugar and cold butter in a large bowl and rub them together with your fingertips, or pulse in a food processor, until the butter looks like coarse sand.
- Add the vanilla, then add the cold water a little at a time and stop as soon as the dough comes together; you may not need it all. Do not overwork it.
- Shape the dough into a flat disc, wrap it in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough out on a floured surface to about 3 mm thick and lay it in a greased 22 cm tart tin, pressing it gently into the sides. Trim the excess, prick the base with a fork and chill for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (conventional, top and bottom heat). Line the pastry with baking paper, fill with baking beans or rice and bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove the paper and beans and bake for another 8-10 minutes, until pale golden. Cool completely in the tin before adding any filling.
Note: For a larger tart, use 360 g flour, 4 tablespoons of sugar, 200 g butter and 140 ml cold water.
From Chef Fatma's notebook. Where the notebook listed only the ingredients, we wrote out the method for a home kitchen. Measures: 1 cup = 200 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml. Oven temperatures are for a conventional oven without a fan. If you have an allergy, please read the ingredients carefully.