Preparing Galettes (free form tarts)

Step 1 – Lightly grease your tart tin
Lightly grease your tart tin, for added assurance cut a circle of baking paper and line the base of your tart tin. Cut the pastry to allow for the depth of the tart, for a 20cm shell with a 2cm depth, cut a 24cm diameter circle, carefully place this into your tart tin.

Step 2 – Ease the pastry into the tart
Gently ease the pastry into the tart ensuring you have an even amount of pastry all round.

Step 3 – Crimping the pastry
Using thumb and forefinger work your way around the tart gently crimping pastry in towards the edge.

Step 4 – Massage the pastry
Now move round the tart pushing the crimped edges flat to the side of the shell. While doing so gently massage the pastry in a downward motion towards the base of the shell.

Step 5 – Rolling pin to the outer edges
Now take the end of a rolling pin and starting from the centre working out in a circular pattern use a tapping motion with the rolling pin until you reach the outer edge of the base. (This easy little trick pushes the pastry out towards the edge of the shell helping to prevent pull back on the sides).

Step 6 – The finished result
The finished result.

Step 7 – Line with baking paper and fill
Line the pastry with baking paper and fill to the top with baking weights (chickpeas or ceramic baking weights, avoid rice).

Step 8 – Rest in refrigerator before baking
Rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before baking in a preheated oven at 180C (160C fan forced) for 15 minutes. Check pastry is lightly golden around edge before removing weights and paper, then brush the base of the tart shell with beaten egg (Vanilla Sweet Pastry only); this will ensure a crisp base, return to oven for a further 5 minutes.