How to avoid tarts with soft and soggy bottoms

Sprinkle 2 to 3 dessertspoons of powdered milk over the pastry and your tart bases will no longer be waterlogged and soft, but crispy instead!

The powdered milk absorbs excess liquid in the fruit and vegetables, or other ingredients used in tarts and flans. You’ll really notice the difference!

Which type of powdered milk should I use?
You can use Régilait semi-skimmed, full-fat or skimmed powdered milk.

 How?
There are two ways of doing this:

• For a quiche or tart made using a machine (mix of cream and eggs or milk and eggs), add the powdered milk to your other ingredients.
  If the dish is made using fruit or vegetables that are very juicy (such as tomato, courgette, peach or pear tart etc.), you could also sprinkle some powdered milk over your tart base before adding your fruit or vegetables on top.
• If you are making a fruit or vegetable tart without using a machine, just sprinkle the powdered milk over the pastry before adding the other ingredients.

What quantity of powdered milk should I use?
2 to 3 dessertspoons of powdered milk depending on the type of fruit or vegetable used.
Up to 4 dessertspoons added to the quiche or tart machine.

A few words of advice:
It is important to roll out the pastry to the right thickness, no more than 3 to 4 mm.
If it is too thin, it may soak up too much juice. If it is too thick, it may not cook properly and remain raw in the centre.
To be sure that your pastry is nice and crispy, you can also precook the pastry case blind for 10 minutes, then sprinkle it with powdered milk before adding your other ingredients. Or you can add the powdered milk to the machine, or both.
If the ingredients are precooked (leeks, courgettes, chicory, spinach, etc.), it is vital that they are drained well or reheated to remove as much moisture as possible.
For a tomato tart, we recommend removing the seeds from the tomatoes before slicing them, sprinkling them with salt and leaving them to drain for 15 to 20 minutes in a colander.
For sweet tarts, you could also sprinkle the tart base with powdered milk and sugar to caramelise the fruit a little.