Pastry Shell Recipe

Before making your pastry shell recipe you may want to think about what you need to make it for, as there are different pastry recipes for this purpose.

pastry-shell-recipePastry Shell Recipe


There are so many wonderful French pastry recipes but people are afraid to make the pastry!

They don't know which is best.

So here are a few tips for you.

And please don't be afraid to try and make them – it is only practice that makes perfect.

It's easy when you know how – and soon you will have the skills!


How To Choose The Type Of Pastry To Use?

1. For savoury pies and quiches or fruits with a very juicy nature such as plums, the pastry to use is the short crust pastry or the paté brisée.

2. For sweet tarts such as lemon tart or raspberry tart etc. the paté brisée sucrée is the perfect one to use.

Small pastry shells filled with beans

Cooked pastry shells ready to be filled

Practice makes perfect with these French pastry recipes! Now that you have the perfect pastry shell recipe are you ready to practice?

Let's start with a simple pastry using a cooked shell and an easy filling. This is a favourite of mine when I'm pushed for time!

Strawberry Tart  –  French pastry recipes can be easy with something simple to start you off like this little gem. Mouthwatering summer strawberries with a delicious soft cheese filling. Enjoy!

Creme Patisserie – For a more traditional filling for your strawberry tart or indeed any fruit tart, a delicious custard cream filling is what you need. This is very simple to make but again many are a little scared that it is too difficult to make or that it will go lumpy. No, indeed it is quite simple and if I can do it, you can do it too.

Raspberry Tart – Here is another summer fruit tart for you to make with your French pastry recipes – a mouthwatering raspberry tart  with a raspberry preserve glaze. Really yummy!

Perfect Pastry Shell Recipe

Bon Appetit

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Pastry Shell Recipe
Yield
8
Author
Judith Coates
Prep time
25 Min
Cook time
10 Min
Total time
35 Min

Pastry Shell Recipe

Use pastry shell recipe directions after you have chosen which type of short crust you will make. These instructions will make mixing the dough, rolling the dough, and placing it in your pans so much easier.

Ingredients

How To Choose Which Pastry To Use
  • For savory pies and quiches or fruits with a very juicy nature such as plums, the pastry to use is the short crust pastry or the paté brisée.
  • For sweet tarts such as lemon tart or raspberry tart etc. the paté brisée sucrée is the perfect one to use.
Tips For Making Foolproof French Pastry Recipes
  • For all French pastry recipes, the ingredients are so important. We need to get it right. The French use a special low gluten flour but you can produce a good pastry using all-purpose flour if you cannot buy French flour.
  • The French also use unsalted butter and this gives a crisp texture but again, you can use three parts butter to one part vegetable fat, which produces a light crisp pastry to be proud of.
  • You can either make your pastry by hand or in a food processor. However, it is really a good idea to make it by hand, to begin with, so as to learn the skill of making a good pastry, to get the feel of the pastry in your hands and to learn the basics first. "Il faut mettre la main a la pate!" Get your hands dirty!
  • The most important part of making all French pastry is the hand mixing. You must work quickly and not handle the dough for long. This is to prevent it from getting warm as you do not want the butter to soften. So work with light fingers and very quickly.
  • If you choose to make your pastry recipes in a food processor, do not overdo it, just mix for a short time or the pastry will be hard.

Instructions

How To Get The Dough Into The Pastry Pan Successfully
  1. Once you have decided which pastry you need you will have the perfect pastry for your pastry shell recipe. 
  2. Then proceed as follows:
  3. Prepare your flan tin by lightly greasing it. An 8-inch flan tin is suitable for most flans or quiches. Choose smaller ones for individual tarts etc. A straight-sided flan tin with a loose bottom is the best (more traditional) to use for a quiche.
  4. Roll out your pastry just a little larger than the flan tin. To do this, you can reverse the pastry onto the rolling pin, hoping it won't break! Or you can fold it in half and then lay it in the tin and unfold it. Use your fingers to lift the edges of the pastry and let it fill the entire tin.
  5. If it breaks, don't worry, just press it into the tin, it will still taste good.
  6. Make sure there are no large holes in the bottom of the filling will come through!
  7. Use your rolling pin to roll over the top of the tin to trim off the edges. You can of course use a knife if you prefer.
  8. At this stage make a decorative edge around the rim, if you're feeling artistic. Do this by using a knife to make small marks around the rim or use the back of the tines on a fork.
  9. Prick the bottom of the pastry case with a fork.
  10. Now at this stage, you need to line the flan with a piece of lightly greased (with butter) paper or you can use foil and then fill it with dried beans. This is to prevent the bottom of the pastry case from puffing up when cooking.
  11. Place in a preheated oven at 400 for about 8 minutes.
  12. Remove from the oven and remove the paper and beans. Place the shell back in the oven for about 2 minutes more (just starting to colour).
  13. This is your partially cooked pastry shell.
  14. For a fully cooked pastry shell continue baking for another 5 minutes or until the pastry is a golden brown colour.

Notes:

Helpful Notes & Tips

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Get the nutritional information for this recipe yourself from CALORIE COUNTER, it’s easy.

Need a different weight or volume measurement for the ingredients in this recipe? Get it at CONVERT ME.

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The nutritional information for this recipe has been calculated for the entire recipe electronically, if you are not satisfied with these results, please use the link to CALORIE COUNTER in the Notes section above. They are not intended as a health recommendation or guideline.

Similar Recipes

Make Fruit Tarts Special With Paté Brisée Sucrée

Paté Brisée ~ Short Crust Pastry

Crème Patissière ~ Strawberry & Chocolate Tart

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pastry shell recipe, french pastry, fruit tart recipe, short crust pastry
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