Sweet tartlet shells (individual tart crusts)

This is a recipe for individual sweet tartlet shells made with pâte sucrée, the classic pastry used by French pâtisseries for tarts. It’s my go-to crust for sweet tarts – crisper, more delicate and easier to work with than regular shortcrust. It’s used for JB’s Raspberry Tartlets he published today!

Sweet tartlet shells – individual size

This recipe for individual tartlet shells accompanies the Raspberry Tartlets that JB also published today. He had originally planned to include the tart crust recipe there as well, but it was getting very lengthy. We also realised that it’s the first individual tart recipe on this website – but it certainly won’t be the last.

So it seemed sensible to publish the tartlet shell recipe separately!

These individual size tart crusts are made with pâte sucrée which is the classic French sweet pastry used for fruit tarts and other pâtisserie-style desserts. Both large ones for sharing – like JB’s very popular Pistachio Pear Tart – and small single serve tartlets like the raspberry ones above. And if you don’t have individual tartlet tins, you can make mini ones in a muffin tin!

It’s buttery, crisp and delicate, yet surprisingly easy to work with. It’s more pliable than shortcrust which is more prone to breaking. I also much prefer the finished tart shell – it has a more luxurious, finer, crisper texture that doesn’t crumble apart into powder with every bite so it’s more practical to eat.

It’s the perfect base for all sorts of sweet tartlets – from fresh fruit tarts with custard to chocolate ganache (photos below), lemon curd and more.

Ingredients in Sweet Tartlet Shells

Here’s what you need to make this tartlet shell. Almond meal and icing sugar are the key ingredients that set pâte sucrée apart from regular shortcrust, giving it a more delicate texture and a buttery, pâtisserie-style finish. And egg is the reason the dough is much easier to work with – more pliable, less prone to breaking!

• Flour – Just plain / all purpose flour;

• Icing sugar / powdered sugar – The finer, powder-like grains make this incorporate more thoroughly and easily into the dough compared to ordinary white sugar grains;

• Almond meal / ground almonds – Not to be confused with almond flour which are finer grains, this adds a touch of nuttiness that complement sweet fillings as well as adding a hint of moistness to the pastry. It can be substituted with ground hazelnut.

• Butter – If it didn’t include butter, I would seriously question if it was French! 😂

• Egg – Unlike regular shortcrust pastry which uses water, pâte sucrée contains egg. It enriches the dough while also making the dough easier to handle.

---

How to make Sweet Tartlet Shells

Confession – I used to make pâte sucrée by hand, mostly because I thought it earned me extra French pastry points. But actually, it’s 10x faster using a food processor and comes out 100% exactly the same – and now even JB uses the food processor! (He’s French, and he’s a Michelin trained chef. I feel so validated. 😂) But on a leisurely Sunday afternoon when I’m pottering around the kitchen without the time pressure of a working day, I do still like to make doughs by hand.

PS The hands you see in the step photos are JB’s, because this is his recipe. I’m just writing this post. 🙂

1. Make the pâte sucrée dough

1. By hand – Mix the flour, icing sugar, almond meal and salt in a bowl. Then rub the butter in using your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs – it takes about 5 minutes, at a leisurely pace!

2. Dough done – Then mix the egg in using a wooden spatula, mixing until it gets too hard to mix anymore because it becomes thick like a dough. Finish it off by kneading in the bowl with your hands to bring the mixture together into a dough ball.

3. Food processor method (30 sec) – Use a food processor fitted with a regular metal S blade. Pulse once to combine the dry ingredients, then add the butter and pulse 4 to 5 times until the mixture becomes breadcrumbs. Add the egg and blitz until a dough ball forms, about 15 to 20 seconds.

4. Disc – Turn the dough out onto a work surface. Lightly knead to form a smooth ball then shape it into a 2cm / 0.8″ thick disc.

5. Fridge 30 minutes – Wrap with cling wrap then refrigerate for 30 minutes. This firms up the butter in the dough which is what makes the crust nice and flake.

2. roll-out and line tartlet tins

The ball-rolling and rolling-out method set out in this section is a very efficient way to line tartlet tins around 12 cm / 4.7″ in diameter (the recipe makes 6), approximately the size most commonly used in pâtisseries. You end up with barely any pastry scraps, and the pastry will be of even thickness in every tartlet.

However, if you are making mini tartlet shells, I don’t think it’s the most efficient method. Instead, roll the dough into one large sheet, press out rounds using a cutter, line the tartlet tins, then gather and re-roll the scraps as needed.

1. Individual balls – Divide the dough into 6 equal portions. Cut the disc like pizza!

2. Roll each piece into a ball.

3. Roll each ball out into a 15 cm / 6.5″ round (it will be ~3mm / 1/8″ thick). This is for the 12 cm / 4.7″ tartlet tins I am using.

4. Line tartlet tin – Drape the pastry into the tartlet tin and gently fold it into the corners. Take care not to pull and stretch the pastry as this makes it shrink when it bakes.

5. Trim – Roll the rolling pin across the surface of the tartlet tin to cut excess pastry off.

6. Prick the base with a fork (not all the way through), about 10 in each. This prevents the base from puffing up, which it otherwise would in the 2nd bake after the baking beads are removed.

7. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before baking. This is a bit of an insurance policy to re-solidify the butter in case it softened a bit too much as you rolled out the pastry. Cold butter = lovely crispy crumbly pastry!

3. baking

The bake times in the recipe are for the pictured tartlet tins. If you are making smaller ones or mini ones using a muffin tin, you can reduce the bake time to 12 minutes with the baking beads and 2 minutes uncovered.

1. Crumple the baking paper – For each tartlet, cut a piece of baking paper about 50% larger than the tart tin. Crumple it into a ball, then unfold it. The creased paper becomes more flexible, making it easier to press neatly into the base and corners of the pastry without springing back like a flat sheet;

2. Baking beads – Fill each with baking beads. This keeps the pastry shell shape in place as it bakes – it prevents the base from puffing up, the walls from sliding down and pastry from shrinking. If you don’t have baking beads, use uncooked rice grains or dried beans instead.

3. Bake 1 – Bake for 12 minutes in a 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan-forced) oven. It needs to be a hot-ish oven so the pastry walls set before the butter melts and causes the sides to slide down a bit.

   If the tarts won’t be baked again (eg. filled with custard, pastry cream, whipped cream), bake for 14 minutes which will fully cook the tart base all the way through (whereas for tarts that will be filled and baked again, the base can be a bit undercooked as it will finish cooking through with the filling).

4. Remove beads – Use the paper overhang to carefully remove the beads. They are hot, so be careful! I pile them all into a metal bowl to pack away later when they cool down.

5. Bake 2 – Then return the uncovered tart shells to the oven and bake for a further 5 minutes if the tarts will be filled with something that needs to be baked. The purpose of this step is to colour the tarts. The tart shells will be fully cooked but the edges will be light golden, so when the tarts are baked again the edges don’t get too brown.

6. Cool – Then this is what they look like after the uncovered baking time in the fridge. Let them fully cool in the tart tins. Then use!

How to use Tartlet Shells

These little tartlet shells are incredibly versatile. Fill them with no-bake fillings like pastry cream and fresh fruit to make a Fruit Tart (see photo in introduction section), chocolate ganache (above), lemon curd, cheesecake filling or mousse.

Use them for baked fillings such as frangipane / almond cream (like in JB’s Raspberry Tartlets), or a baked custard. Just don’t forget to blind bake the tartlet crust for the shorter baking time so the crust doesn’t become overly brown when it’s baked again with the filling!

You can also store the unfilled tarts in an airtight container for 3 days and they will stay fully crisp and fresh!

Love to know what you use these Tartlet Shells for. Share your ideas in the comments below – other readers are always looking for new tart inspiration! – Nagi x

---

Watch how to make it

The video features JB making it, because this is his pastry recipe!

Life of Jaffle

The number of times I’ve been asked, “Is your puppy okay??” and I have to explain that this is simply Jaffle’s method of protesting when it’s time to go home ……

…… because if he had his way, he’d spend all day at the dog park!

Me, on the other hand, have other things to do. Like LAUNDRY. 😝