1. Blind baking is where the pastry is cooked before adding filling. Roll shortcrust pastry out to required size and thickness for recipe and tin to be lined, fold it over rolling pin and then lay over top of tart tin.
2. Gently lift pastry and ease it into side and base of tin, be careful not to stretch pastry when doing this. Use a small piece of excess pastry to press and smooth pastry into place. With a fork, pierce a few holes in base of pastry.
3. Roll rolling pin over top of tin, to smoothly remove excess pastry and give an even finish to top of pastry case. Chill lined tin for 10-15min, to firm up.
4. Scrunch up a piece of greaseproof paper so it moulds to shape of pastry without any gaps, then unroll it and lay it in tin. Make sure it’s big enough to cover rim so that the top of the pastry won’t scorch in the oven.
5. Pour in baking beans and arrange so there’s a thicker layer at edge to support sides of pastry as it cooks.
6. Put tin on a baking tray and bake at 220°C (200°C fan) mark 7 for 15min until sides of pastry have cooked and feel firm.
7. Remove beans and paper. Then bake for a further 5-10min until base is cooked through and feels sandy to touch. Remove from oven, and leave to cool completely before using in desired recipe.
Use your skills to make these triple-tested recipes:
5-minute shortcrust pastry recipe
10 of the best sweet tarts recipe
Best pastry recipes inspired by GBBO
Ceramic baking beans, Cooling rack, Lakeland. Loft 24-piece dinner set, Zwilling J.A. Henckels. Classic glass bowl (0.5 litres), Pyrex. Tart tin, rolling pin, chopping board, baking tray, chef's own.
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
