My no-fail method of making tart crust was a case of necessity being the mother of invention. When I took my first job as a pastry chef, I somehow forgot to mention that I was a flop at making pastry crusts. After many tough, torn, and otherwise terrible attempts, I came up with this foolproof recipe for an exceptionally tender yet sturdy tart crust.

My “secret ingredient” turned out to be an electric mixer. Using it instead of my hands to mix the dough guaranteed consistent results every time. The only trouble I had when testing the technique for this article was that I ate too much; I found myself nibbling away at the empty crusts, their cookie-like flavor and texture too tempting too resist.

Tender, not flaky, is the goal.

蛋tur蛋只是糕点外壳，浅面，馅料，没有顶层。与馅饼外壳不同，烤后将蛋rust从锅中删除，这意味着它们需要更坚固的面团。蛋rust不如馅饼外壳片状，但是它们奇妙的黄油风味和易碎的曲奇般的质地弥补了任何片状的损失

Chill your ingredients to keep the crust light.I use a blend of all-purpose and cake flours; the lower gluten in the cake flour makes the crust less likely to toughen. Butter, which also acts as a tenderizer, gives the pastry its flavor. Sugar sweetens the crust and makes it brown nicely. The high proportion of sugar in this recipe also accounts for the sandy, cookie-like texture of the baked crust. I use confectioners’ sugar for a more tender texture and a finer grain. I also add ground blanched almonds for a more crumbly texture. Baking powder, unusual in a tart crust, makes the pastry lighter and gives it a slight lift.

Your ingredients should be cool to help keep the dough cool as you work with it. That way, small pieces of butter will remain in the dough, forming air pockets when the pastry bakes, which keep the crust light. I always keep the egg and butter in the refrigerator until I’m ready to use them, and on hot summer days I even chill the dry ingredients.

Use an electric mixer to avoid overhandling the dough.大多数蛋corl是手工混合的，这通常是麻烦开始的地方。手动混合缓慢，并且由于您的手很温暖，因此总存在黄油变得太软的危险，因此使面团油腻

为了寻求更可靠的效果，我尝试在食品加工机中混合面团，但是机器工作得如此之快，以至于我觉得混合不受器。我的解决方案是使用电动搅拌机。混合器工作得很快，但不太快，将面团彻底混合但迅速地混合，因此保持凉爽。而且，与食品加工机不同，我可以看到搅拌碗以判断我的面团的质地

I begin with the dry ingredients and butter on low speed, mixing just until the largest butter pieces are the size of peas and the rest looks like coarse cornmeal. Then I add the egg and mix until the dough just holds together and begins to come away from the sides of the bowl. The dough should be smooth with bits of butter still visible. I shape it into a disk, wrap it in plastic, and chill it. The cold relaxes the gluten so the dough is more manageable and less likely to shrink during baking.

When rolling the pastry, dust the work surface and rolling pin with cake flour.Cake flour has less gluten than all-purpose, so it won’t toughen the crust. Shape the crust to the tart pan and chill it again to firm it and help it keep its structure. At this point, you can wrap the crust and freeze it for up to two months. When still frozen, fill it and bake it or blind-bake it.