4ounceshoney butter with vanillavery very cold, cut in small pieces
generous pinch salt
1-2Tbspice water
Instructions
MIX DOUGH, THEN CHILL
Mix the flour and salt together. I use a food processor, so I dump them in and pulse it once or twice. Add the chunks of cold butter, pulse again 7-10 times, until the mixture looks like coarse meal, with pieces no larger than small peas. (If you prefer, work the butter into the flour/salt mixture with your fingers or a pastry blender.) Add ice water one tablespoon at a time, pulsing until only the mixture begins to clump together.
Remove the dough from the food processor, knead once or twice on a floured board, and shape into a disk. Wrap it loosely, and refrigerate it for at least an hour and up to a day.
ON BAKING DAY
Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Butter an 8 or 9 inch tart pan and set aside.
Take the pastry dough out of the refrigerator and unwrap it. Dust your work surface lightly with flour, and place the pastry disk in the center. Dust the top surface of the pastry with a little flour as well. Use your rolling pin to press down on the pastry, making little grooves. Turn the pastry 90 degrees every so often to keep a round shape, and keep pressing until the disk is about twice its original diameter, when you can begin to roll.
Roll out the pastry, moving the pin back and forth only. Turn the dough 90 degrees every so often, to maintain a round shape. When the dough is about 1½ inches larger than the tart pan, carefully lift the pastry and place it in the pan. Lift the edges, and carefully tamp the pastry into the pan, taking care not to make any holes in it.
To make a baked tart shell with minimum bubbling, you’ll need to use pie weights (I use some dry beans for this; just don’t try to cook them later.) Take a piece of alumninum foil or parchment paper and press it onto the raw crust. Weight the foil using pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice. Make sure the weights cover the entire bottom of the crust.
Bake the weighted tart shell 15 minutes, then check to see if the crust is ready. Pull up one corner of the foil/parchment. If it sticks, the dough isn’t dry enough to remove it, so return it to the oven and check again in 2-3 more minutes.
When the crust is dry enough to remove the foil/parchment easily, carefully lift it off along with the weights, and return the crust to the oven until it is fully baked and golden brown, 7-8 minutes more. Once golden brown, pull the tart shell from the oven and place on a rack to cool.