A good basic sweet pastry for making dessert tarts.

Basic Tart Pastry - Sweet

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar or brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup butter

1 large egg, beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C).
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry blender or the tips of your fingers, cut the butter into the flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Using a fork, stir in the beaten egg, until dough comes together nicely. Form pastry into a ball and chill for 1 hour.
3. Roll pastry out on a lightly floured work surface into a circle slightly larger than the tart pan, place in pan and press onto bottom and edge of pan, then firmly roll the rolling pin across the top of the tart pan to trim away the excess pastry. (Or a quick and easy method is to simply omit chilling the dough first and firmly press dough evenly against the bottom and side of an ungreased tart pan with your fingertips).
4. Bake pastry for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. (You can help prevent the pastry from becoming too puffy and bubbling by cutting out a circle of parchment or waxed paper and placing it on the tart pastry, then filling it with pastry weights, beans or rice. Remove the paper and weights a few minutes before the end of baking time to allow the pastry to brown. This procedure is called blind-baking).

Makes enough pastry for one (11-inch) round tart or 8 individual tart shells.