How to blind bake pastry (2024)

FAQs

How to blind bake pastry? ›

Blind baking is done by preparing your pie crust in the pan, leaving it to chill, then filling it with crumpled parchment paper and pie weights of your choice. The weights stop the crust from fully puffing while in the oven.

Line the tart tin with baking parchment and fill with ceramic baking beans or dried pulses. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the pastry is firm, then remove the beans and cook for about 5 minutes more, until golden brown and biscuity. Trim off any excess using a small serrated knife before filling.

When blind baking, line the pastry with baking paper and fill to the brim with baking beans/uncooked rice, which will support the sides of the pastry and help prevent shrinkage. Start shortcrust off at 190°C/170°C fan/gas 5 to quickly set the pastry. If the oven temperature is too low, the pastry will shrink.

A basic pie crust that consists primarily of white flour and butter always benefits from blind-baking at 425ºF. However, if sugar is added to it, it's better to bake it at a lower temperature of 400ºF, to prevent the sugar from burning. Though, it will need to be baked for longer to ensure it's fully baked through.

If you don't have pie weights, you could use something similar like pennies, dry beans, dry rice, or even sugar. I don't recommend blind baking your crust without anything to weigh it down though, because it will likely lose its shape, bubble, and shrink.

It's not recommended to blind bake without any weight, because the pastry will puff up and it won't cook evenly if there's nothing holding it down. But if you don't have traditional baking beads, you can use dry rice, pasta, beans or even sugar! Anything that's heavy enough to hold down a piece of baking paper.

The pastry will also shrink back if your oven is too cool during baking. Once again, this will happen if the water evaporates out of the pastry before the heat can set it in shape. This will result in the all-too-common side collapses for blind baked tarts.

Trim off any excess pastry that's hanging over the edges of the tin. You can use your rolling pin to help you do this – simply press it down on the edges so the excess is sliced off. 5. Poke your pastry base with a fork a few times and then cover it with a layer of greaseproof paper.

To prevent them becoming soggy, shortcrust pastry cases need to be partially cooked before adding moist fillings. This process, known as blind baking, which seals the surface and results in a crisp pastry case.

You can blind bake like a pro by keeping a few tips in mind. Line the unbaked pie crust with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Use pie weights, dried beans, or clean coins to weigh down the lined crust so the bottom doesn't puff and the sides don't slouch while it bakes.

Can you reuse sugar after blind baking? ›

You might think the sugar would melt, but it's not in the oven long enough to reach its melting point. You can actually re-use the sugar in baking. In fact, cooking the sugar this way lightly caramelizes it, giving it more flavor. You can also easily use uncooked rice or dry beans.

Pre-baking is a must if you're looking for a flaky pie crust. It's especially helpful for recipes with a wet center. Recipes for most tarts, pies, and quiches call for pre-baking to ensure that the final product doesn't end up soggy.

Getting a brown, flaky/crispy bottom crust on your pie is all about quick and effective heat transfer. That's why aluminum or aluminum/steel pans — rather than glass or stoneware — are your best choice for baking pie. Metal, especially aluminum, transfers heat quickly and efficiently from oven to pie crust.

You're all ready to blind-bake a pie crust when you realize you don't have any pie weights. The simple save: Line the crust with foil, top with 25 pennies and bake. The weight from the pennies will prevent the dough from bubbling while the metal in the coins conducts heat for a perfect crust.

Blind-Baking Method: Parchment Paper and Pie Weights

Just like the bean and rice methods, you chill the pie shell, line it with parchment, fill with the weights, and bake the crust for 15 minutes before removing the weights and finishing the bake.

Blind baking is done by preparing your pie crust in the pan, leaving it to chill, then filling it with crumpled parchment paper and pie weights of your choice. The weights stop the crust from fully puffing while in the oven.

Ready Made Pastry cases - You do not need to blind bake ready made shortcrust pastry. These ready made/ready baked pastry cases are ready to use and can usually hold most fillings and if needed, they can be placed in the oven to cook the contents.

But there are alternatives to baking beans – some of which you may even have in your cupboard. If you're new to blind baking, the simplest homemade solution is rice. It acts as a great pastry weight and does not burn – plus it's easy to tip out or save to use again.

Baking blind (sometimes called pre-baking) is the process of baking a pie crust or other pastry without the filling. Blind baking a pie crust is necessary when it will be filled with an unbaked filling (such as with pudding or cream pies), in which case the crust must be fully baked.