This adaptation of Pâte Brisée (page 180) uses milk rather than water to make a richer pastry.

　　

Ingredients

makes enough for twenty-four 2 1/4-inch tarts or three 9-inch tarts

　　Scant 3 1/2 cups (432g) all-purpose flour

　　4 teaspoons (16g) sugar

　　1 teaspoon (4g) coarse salt

　　1 teaspoon (4g) baking powder

　　12 tablespoons (168g) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

　　About 1 cup (240g) whole milk

　　

Step 1

Put the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter to the processor. Pulse until the mixture is crumbly. Add 1/2 cup of the milk and pulse again, until the dough starts to come together.

　　

Step 2

Turn the dough out into a bowl and gather it into a ball. If the dough is still a bit dry, add a little more milk, tossing the dough with your fingers. You may not need all the milk.

　　

Step 3

Shape the dough into a brick, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using. The dough will keep for about 3 days in the refrigerator and for several months in the freezer. Defrost before rolling.

　　

BLIND-BAKING

Step 4

Most of the tart shells in this book are blind-baked—that is, baked without a filling and cooled. The result is crisp pastry. In a restaurant kitchen, we bake a lot of tart shells, so there are a couple of tricks I can share.

　　

Step 5

I’m always looking for a quick and easy way to weight the dough when blind-baking. Parchment paper and dried beans work well for large tarts: Cut a circle of parchment a couple of inches larger than your mold and then cut into the circle at 1-inch intervals to fit the paper into the dough-lined mold. Fill with beans, which you can reuse infinitely, and you’re ready to go. However, parchment is a little too stiff to fit easily into small tart rings, so often I’ll cut down small coffee filters—the ones with flat bottoms—and fill them with rice. You could use muffin tin liners just as easily. But more often than not, I’ll use disposable 4-ounce aluminum molds or baking cups filled with rice for 2 1/4-inch tarts. Wrap them in aluminum foil so you can use them over and over.

　　

Step 6

I always glaze tart shells after they’re baked. It seals the pastry, helps make sure it won’t get soggy, and gives it a great look.

　　

Step 7

As soon as the pastry comes out of the oven, remove the weight, brush the tart shell with egg wash (an egg and an egg yolk beaten with a pinch of salt), and put it back in the oven for another minute. Then let the tart shells cool before filling.

　　Reprinted with permission from Dessert Fourplay: Sweet Quartets from a Four-Star Pastry Chef by Johnny Iuzzini and Roy Finamore. Copyright © 2008 by Johnny Iuzzini and Roy Finamore. Published by Crown Publishing. All Rights Reserved.Johnny Iuzzini,, executive pastry chef of the world-renowned Jean Georges restaurant in New York City, won the award for Outstanding Pastry Chef from the James Beard Foundation in 2006. This is his first book.Roy Finamore, a publishing veteran of more than thirty years, has worked with many bestselling cookbook authors. He is the author of three books: One Potato, Two Potato; Tasty, which won a James Beard Foundation award; and Fish Without a Doubt.__