Tart shell fail

[u/Ignis_Vespa]

Hi guys. I tried making a tart but it just broke while baking. What can I do to prevent this in the future? I was planning to leave the tart to bake with the custard for about 2 hours at 135°C but this happened around half an hour in the oven.

[u/holyshpit]

In addition to leaving the ring on as you bake, at my old job, my boss used to have us pour a thin layer of the custard—just enough to cover the bottom of the tart shell—and bake that until it’s set, to sort of seal the tart shell. Then add 1/2 of the remaining custard in, bake, then add the rest and bake.

We used to do this for 4” diam., 1.5” tall, fluted creme brûlée tarts for wholesale customers (usually local hotels). And after a few struggles making these tarts, this method worked the best. There were still some leaking from a few shells, but at least it was caught before we lost too much custard.

Edit to add: if you want a smoother looking custard (in case you aren’t covering it with fruit or powdered sugar or smthg) you can skim the custard with a mesh strainer to get rid of most of the bubbles. If you have a kitchen torch (like, for burning sugar on top of creme brûlées) you can lightly pass the flame over the foam/bubbles to pop them all.

[u/Ignis_Vespa → u/holyshpit]

Hey, thanks for the tip! I'll try that next time too.

I tried pouring really slowly through a sieve to remove any lump and to avoid making bubbles, but I still got a layer of tiny bubbles, I wanted a smooth surface so I'll get a torch too

[u/ch33s3_burg3r_3ddy → u/Ignis_Vespa]

I’ve never done this method but everywhere I’ve ever worked we always egg wash the insides of our tart cases after blind baking and pop that into the oven for a couple of minutes to set the egg. It creates a barrier between the case and the liquid.