Tart shells rewards a little know-how: how to choose them, cook them, store them, and substitute in a pinch. Browse 10 recipes to cook with them.

What are tart shells?

Tart shells are small, pre-formed pastry cases that you fill rather than build from scratch. They come baked or unbaked, in sizes from bite-size tartlets up to a single-serving round, and they save you the work of rolling and fitting dough.

Most are made from a sweet shortcrust that bakes up crisp and a little crumbly, though savory and flaky versions exist too. They give you a tidy edible container, ready for fruit, custard, jam, or a quiche filling.

The whole point is convenience without the cardboard taste of cheap convenience food. A good shell holds its shape, shatters cleanly under a fork, and tastes like real butter pastry.

Working With Tart Shells

How you treat a shell depends on its filling. For anything baked inside, like the custard in Pumpkin Pecan Tarts or the gooey center of English Butter Tarts, you fill the raw shell and bake the two together.

For a no-cook filling you need a fully baked shell first. A No-Bake Fresh Fruit Tart, for example, wants a crisp golden case that has already cooled before the pastry cream and fruit go in.

Blind-baking is how you get there. Line the unbaked shell with parchment, fill it with dried beans or pie weights, and bake until the edges set, then lift out the weights and bake a few minutes more to dry the base. This stops the bottom puffing or staying raw.

Tartlet shells are made for canapes and party food too. Drop a spoonful of savory mousse or a cube of cheese into each, as the Cheddar-Olive Tart and Leek & Goat Cheese Tart show on a larger scale.

Keeping Them Crisp and Common Mistakes

The enemy of every tart shell is a soggy bottom. A wet filling soaks straight into pastry and turns it limp within an hour.

The fix is a moisture barrier. Brush the warm baked shell with a thin layer of melted chocolate, or paint it with beaten egg white during the last few minutes of baking, and let it set before adding anything wet.

Fill shells as close to serving as you can. Custard and fruit tarts are happiest assembled the same day, while a shell you bake ahead keeps its snap far longer empty than filled.

Watch the oven, too. Sweet shortcrust is high in sugar and butter, so it colors fast and can scorch at the edges while the center is still pale. Bake at a moderate 375°F (190°C) and check early.

Substitutes

If you have no shells, the obvious swap is homemade pastry rolled and pressed into a tart pan or muffin tin. It takes more time but gives you control over flavor and thickness.

Larger pie shells work for the same fillings, just understand the difference. Pie shells are usually deeper and flakier, and less sweet, built for a softer slice rather than the crisp snap of a tart. A tart filling in a pie shell will taste fine but look and eat less neatly.

For a quick base, crushed cookie or graham crumbs pressed into a tin make a no-roll crust. It is softer and sweeter than pastry and suits chilled fillings like the Coffee Liqueur Pie better than a hot bake.

Pre-made phyllo cups are another shortcut for canapes, lighter and shatter-crisp where shortcrust is sturdy.

Buying and Storing Tart Shells

You will find them three ways: frozen unbaked, shelf-stable fully baked in the baking aisle, and refrigerated dough you press in yourself. Frozen unbaked shells give the freshest result; the shelf-stable baked ones trade a little flavor for speed.

Check that frozen shells are not cracked and that baked ones smell of butter, not stale oil. Gluten-free versions exist for recipes like Gluten-Free Maple Bean Tarts, though they tend to be more fragile.

Keep frozen shells in the freezer until you need them and bake from frozen in most cases. Shelf-stable baked shells last for months sealed but go stale and soft once opened, so reseal them tightly.

Baked empty shells you make yourself hold 2 to 3 days at room temperature in an airtight tin, or up to a month frozen. Crisp a softened shell back up with 5 minutes in a 350°F (175°C) oven.

Quick facts

In Chinese

挞壳

British (UK) term

Tart shells

en français

tartelettes

en español

tartaletas

Recipes using tart shells

There are 10 recipes that contain this ingredient.

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