How to Make Perfect Pastry Shell

There are three basic ingredients in a pastry shell: fat, flour, and liquid. You can come up with numerous variations just by changing your basic ingredients and their ratios. Here are few basic, simple principles on how to make perfect pastry shells.

1. Always chill pastry dough before rolling and culling.
2. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface. You can place a plastic sheet over the dough when rolling so that the dough does not stick on thee rolling pin. When rolling out the dough, always start from the center and work your way out in all directions. Use a heavy rolling pin.
3. Place the rolling pin on one edge of the pastry and then lilt the pastry up over the rolling pin and roll it over the pastry mold.
4. Gently press the pastry into the corners of the lid and press lightly into the sides.
5. Roll the rolling pin over the top of the flan lid to remove the loose edges.
6. Prick the base all over with a fork.
7. You can also blind-bake the pastry shell to prevent the pastry shell from rising. Place a piece of parchment paper over the pastry shell. Gently press it so that it evenly covers the bottom and the sides of the pastry dough. Pour over dry beans or rice
8. Bake in the preheated oven for about! 0 minutes until the pastry turns brown slightly. Remove the beans or rice and brush the base with beaten egg yolk and bake for another 10 minutes.
9. Remove pastry shell from the oven and allow to cool in the pastry mold on a wire rack.