If you don’t have a food processor, you can whisk the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
If you’re making the dough in a mixing bowl, use a pastry blender to cut the butter until it looks like coarse crumbs.
You can also stir the egg yolks in using a rubber spatula.
If you’d like to leave out the vodka, just add an extra 1 to 2 teaspoons (5 to 10 ml) of cold water.
Try to work on a cold surface to prevent the butter in the dough from softening.
You’ll need to do this for each circle of dough.
If you’re having trouble transferring the dough to the tart pans, try folding them in half before you lift them. Place the folded dough into the pan and unfold the dough so it covers the tart pan.
You can refrigerate the prepared tart shells for up to 2 hours. If you want to freeze the shells to use later, remove the pie weights and re-wrap the tarts in more plastic wrap. Freeze the tarts for four to six weeks.
If you want to bake frozen tart shells, unwrap the shells and put them on the baking sheets. Lay parchment paper and pie weights in each shell before you bake them.
The tart shells will be pale golden once they’ve finished cooking.
Lemon curd Dulce de leche Chocolate hazelnut spread Pastry cream and fresh fruit
Turn the dough occasionally to keep it from sticking. You might need to sprinkle more flour over the dough as you roll it.
Avoid re-rolling the dough more than once or the pastry will become tough. If you want to use a mini-muffin tin, use a smaller cookie cutter to make your circles.
You can use a standard muffin tin or use a mini-muffin tin if you’d like very small tartlets. For a mini-muffin tin, try using a 2-inch (5-cm) round cookie cutter with scalloped edges.
Whipped cream and melted chocolate Pudding Ganache Fruit or nuts
