The Best Tartlet Crust Recipe

Tartlets are just small tarts – baked desserts consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top. The most common tartlets are the fruit tartlets.

The tartlet crust or tartlet base is made mainly of flour and shortening. In many cases its taste is neutral but it can also be sweet or savoury, it also depends on the specific country where it’s made. You can use pretty much any filling and then arrange different fruit on top.

As you can guess, there are fine points in the making of the perfect tartlet crust. For example, after you have made the tartlet dough, it is best to chill it in the fridge for at least an hour to rest. After that it needs to be rolled out thinly and placed into the tartlet tins. Although there is no baking powder or baking soda, the dough rises during baking. To avoid that, you can cover the base with beans, lentils or rice to preserve the even shape. We strongly advise to leave the tartlet crust in the tin until it is completely cool as it is very fragile and you can accidentally break it otherwise.

Well, our tartlet crust recipe is amazing, so you don’t need to cover them with beans and other stuff, you can just prick the bottom with a fork. If they still rise, you can “correct” them after baking. They are very soft while they are hot. You can press the bottom with a tablespoon and put them back in their initial state.

After the tartlets have cooled down, you can add your favourite filling and decorate them with whatever you want. We use a few different baking tins – heart shaped silicone tartlet moulds or round tartlet tins. Have fun and enjoy!

Ingredients for 6 big or 8 small tartlet crusts:

200 g flour
125 g butter
70 g sugar

Tartlet Crust Preparation:

Cut the butter into cubes and place it into a bowl.
Add in the sugar and flour. Knead the dough by hand and shape a ball.
Divide the dough into 6 equally sized balls. Place one in each of the tartlet tins.
Pressing the dough with fingers and spread it to cover the tartlet tins. Prick the bottom with a fork and place in the fridge for an hour.
Bake for about 15 minutes in a preheated to 180ºС oven until the tartlet crusts are lightly golden. Take them out of the oven and leave them to cool completely before taking them out of the tartlet tins.