Ingredients
| 1 egg | |
| ¼ teaspoon vanilla essence | |
| ½ cup (60g) very lightly packed icing sugar | |
| 2 cups (250g) flour | |
| ¼ teaspoon salt | |
| 180g cold unsalted butter, cut into 5cm cubes |
Instructions
| 1. | In a small bowl beat together the egg, vanilla essence and icing sugar. |
| 2. | Put the flour and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade and pulse to combine. |
| 3. | Scatter the cubes of cold butter evenly over the flour. Pulse until barely combined. |
| 4. | Pour in the egg mixture and pulse until just evenly combined, but not coming together in a ball. |
| 5. | Flatten into a wide disc, wrap in greaseproof paper and chill for 1 hour. |
| 6. | Remove from the fridge and leave at room temperature for 10 minutes to soften. |
| 7. | On a lightly floured surface, or between 2 sheets of baking paper, roll the pastry out to a 30cm circle. |
| 8. | Use to line a 23-24cm pie dish or loose-bottomed tin. Gently fold the pastry into the edge of the tin and press it up the walls, trying not to stretch the pastry as you go. |
| 9. | Trim the overhang to 1½cm then fold this back into the tin, pressing the pastry to achieve a tidy, slightly raised edge. |
| 10. | Prick the base all over with a fork. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes. |
| 11. | Heat the oven to 190°C. |
| 12. | Line the pastry with foil and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes then remove the foil and beans and bake for a further 15 minutes. |
| 13. | If using for a pie that requires further cooking, reduce the cooking time to 20 minutes. |
Recipes & food styling Fiona Smith / Photography Aaron McLean Styling Fiona Lascelles
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