Blind baking

Blind baking

Blind baking is baking a pastry case on its own, before any filling goes in, so the base sets and colours rather than steaming under a wet filling.

The two states

Which one you want depends entirely on whether the filling still needs oven time.

• Par baked. The case is set but pale, and goes back into the oven with a filling that has to cook, such as a quiche or a frangipane tart.
• Fully baked. The case is finished and cooled, and takes a filling that sets cold, such as a lemon curd or a ganache tart.

The details that decide it

Line the raw case with paper and fill it with weights so the sides cannot slump while the fat melts. Take the weights out for the last stretch of the bake, otherwise the base never colours and never crisps.

Chill or freeze the lined case before it goes in. Shrinkage is gluten relaxing and fat melting before the structure has set, so a cold start buys the pastry time to set in the shape you put it in.

Docking, pricking the base with a fork, is for cases baked without weights. If a wet filling follows, seal the holes with a thin brush of egg white after the blind bake.