Can someone answer a question regarding pastry.

I'm going to make my once a year Mary Berry lemon tart for Christmas and part of the process is you prick the pastry once it's in the tin prior to blind baking to stop it rising.

However last year my lemon filling leaked out of the bottom. It was a disaster and went in the bin. Soggy bottom doesn't come close to describing it.

So my question is.. did I prick too deeply? (Ohhh Matron!) Are you only supposed to prick the surface not actually go right through to the tin under? Or does that suggest something else went wrong.. perhaps with the pastry itself? It was as if the pastry baked with the holes still there. I could see them prior to pouring the lemon liquid in but the more I baked the more they just didn't close up so I had to eventually risk it.. and it just didn't work.

I don't want a repeat this year! Thanks.

Edit: May have answered my own question. Re-watching the Bake Off episode she didn't mention that when the pastry goes back in the oven to dry out after she removed the stones.. she turns the temperature down. I wonder if last time I kept the temperature too high and it baked too quickly leaving the holes unfilled?

Aunty Delia knows best.
http://www.deliaonline.com/how-to-co...stry-case.html
They'd have to be pretty severe "pricks" for the filling to leak through as bad as you describe.

Line the pastry and add dried beans, bake for 10 minutes THEN remove beans and prick the base.

Oh dear, your'e just not listening to Aunty Delia are you?
" 3. Forget about baking beans – it's really all too much bother. Provided you've lined the tin correctly, as above, all you now need to do is prick the base all over with a fork, as this will release any trapped air, which is what causes the centre to rise up. Then brush the base and sides all over with beaten egg, which will provide a sort of waterproof coating so that the pastry stays beautifully crisp even after the filling has gone in."

^^ This.

I think the 'modern' method was invented by TV cooks who've got their own range of weights to flog. My gran & mother never bothered, so I just go fork it.. Although the egg glaze can help avoid soggy bottomness. Main reason I found for that was not fully cooking the crust before adding the filling.

With the forking, did you give it a gentle forking, or a fork it and wiggle a bit to make a bigger hole? If so, that might be why the hole stretched and you got leakage. One has to be careful not to overdo these things.

I bow to your and Delia's superior knowledge. I haven't made pastry in over 30 years

I have - and I used baking beans

I prick all over lightly with a fork and bake with a layer of greaseproof paper with dried beans on top. My filling has never leaked (Ooh-er Missus). Just a thought - maybe the filling was too wet?

Thanks for the replies. I'll have another go this year and be a little less firm with the pricking.

That made me smile - how do you define "too wet" it is either wet or well .. wet

Practice and experience. Or variations on the slump test used for concrete. Stick some in a tin, upend it and see how long it takes to turn into a puddle. But that's messy. So how thick the filling is, ie how quickly it pours off a stirring spoon, or how hard it is to stir etc. Usually the recipie quantities should mean ending up at roughly the right consistency.

Attempt two.. and a repeat disaster.

I knew something wasn't right at the pastry stage as the pastry wasn't holding itself together as well as it could do. But I pushed on as I didn't want to add more water and it went down hill from there. Rolling the pastry out it was very fragile and easily tore.. leading to a few holes at the side and I think that's why the holes struggled to fill in the base too. I patched where I could but even after baking the pastry was so fragile that it literally crumbled away at the slightest of touches and I had a leak again.

The recipe says 1 egg yolk and 1 tbsp of water after the flour/butter/sugar stage but I wonder if I need to try 2 tbsp's of water next time. What's odd is Mary's recipe on her website has 2 and so do other recipes. Yet the Bake Off demonstration on YouTube has her using 1??

Might try this one next time:

http://www.raymondblanc.com/recipes/lemon-tart/

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Not always a disaster, may just mean a change in presentation. So chuck it in a bowl & serve with cream or custard. They're the dessert equivalent of gravy and can be used in the same way to cover.. mishaps..


Yup, sounds like it was too dry. Practice makes perfect. Or makes you think how convenient supermarket packets of ready made pastry can be..

Indeed. I'm going to stick at it and try again once the shops open on Saturday. Like you say it's just practice.

What pastry recipe are you using?

Success!!!

http://i.imgur.com/uLvVz65.jpg

Adding a bit more water (and a little more flour) towards the end of the pastry making stage worked wonders. Much more easier to handle and tin up this time which is where it all went wrong earlier.

My third attempt would have worked too but I forgot to add the cream to the filling. Opps. But the forth attempt was pretty much perfect.

Thanks for your help everyone!