Shortcrust tart stopped working
I have a tart recipe that has a shortcrust base that I have done several times. On the first attempts, everything was okay with the base - the "dough" was crumbly but could be rolled and kept its shape relatively well.
Now I tried making it and the "dough" turns out very crumbly, more like dry flour than dough. Rolling is impossible, and only after a lot of compaction with my hands was I able to make something workable.
The ingredients are:
- 300 g flour
- 100 g sugar
- 200 g butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 beaten egg
The instructions are:
- Mix flour, sugar and butter
- Add beaten egg and stir until combined
- Flatten the dough, wrap in cling-film and place in refrigerator for 2 hours
The instruction imply to use a food processor, but I have been using my KitchenAid stand mixer with the flat beater. I also tried mixing by hand (with a fork as well as literally by hand), with minimal improvements.
What am I doing wrong now, and why did it work before but not anymore?
Best Answer
If your dough is very dry and crumbly, it needs more water.
Add a few mL to the dough when adding the beaten egg.
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Quick Answer about "Shortcrust tart stopped working"
The oven may not be hot enough, or the pie may have been placed too high in the oven and cooked too quickly. Make sure the oven is at the right temperature and bake the pie on a preheated baking tray. The filling needs to be fridge cold or it will begin to steam the pastry and make it go soggy before you bake it.How Can I Stop My Pastry Sinking? | This Morning
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Answer 2
The recipe is a prototypical German style Mürbeteig, and whatever went wrong, it is not with the ratio, so it must be something about the process.
If you have problems, I'd say the first thing to do is to ditch the food processor. This type of dough is not designed for it, and when troubleshooting, it is best to try to get the standard process working before trying shortcuts.
One of the things you should do is to use confectioner's sugar - I don't see it mentioned in your recipe, might have been missed, or maybe the food processor is supposed to powder the sugar enough while working the dough. But if made by hand, you will end with sugar crystals embedded in your crust if you are using caster sugar.
Also pay attention to the flour. Pastry flour will work better than all purpose, but if all you have is all purpose, take a look at the protein content and if it is above 10%, change the brand.
When mixing, mix the flour, sugar and butter first, rubbing them by hand. You will end up with a bowl of greasy powder, that's fully normal. Now add the egg. The place where the egg hit will clump - knead the lump, pressing it into the powder, until it has gathered all the powder. The egg is more than 40 g of liquid, that's enough to have all of it come together. Let it rest - a fridge will give you a better texture later, but is more difficult to roll out.
For rolling out, you usually cannot place it on a mat and roll. You need to work between two sheets of plastic foil, repositioning them now and then and flipping the dough. The edges will be slightly crumbly, but the middle should keep in a single smooth piece. When it is ready, remove one side of the foil, lift with the other, and place it in the pie tin naked side down. Only then remove the other foil and shape the walls.
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