Sweet Pastry Dough No. 1

A short, cookie-like sweet pastry from the era when tart shells were expected to hold a filling without weeping. It is a stiff dough closer to a rolled sugar cookie than to modern short crust, and it behaves accordingly.

• Fat and butterThe ingredient list calls for 2 tablespoons shortening while the method says to cut in butter; 'shortening' was often a generic word for solid fat in books of this kind, so the inconsistency may be nothing more than loose wording. Butter gives better flavour in a sweet shell, and 2 tablespoons to a cup of flour is a lean amount — the egg does much of the binding.
• Chilling is the hingeThe recipe says to chill before rolling. Give it at least an hour in the refrigerator, wrapped, and roll it cold on a lightly floured surface about 1/8 inch thick.
• Why baking powderThe half teaspoon of baking powder turns up in a number of period sweet pastries and gives a slightly cakey, tender shell rather than a flaky one. Leave it in if you want the original texture; omit it for a crisper, more European result.
• Add saltThe recipe calls for none. If you use unsalted butter or shortening, add 1/4 teaspoon salt with the dry ingredients.
• Baking the shellsNo temperature is given. Line the tins, prick the bases, chill again, and bake at 400F for 10 to 12 minutes until pale gold; line with paper and weights if the sides slump.
• YieldFive tart shells suggests individual tins of roughly 3 to 4 inches, though the recipe does not say. The same quantity should be about enough for one 7-inch tart ring, rolled thin.