How to Blind Bake Pastry

Method

Once a flan tin or ring has been lined you may wish to bake it unfilled (baking blind), to then fill later with a cold filling or one which requires a lower cooking temperature. It is always best, if time allows, to chill the unbaked flan in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes before baking blind.

• 1. Take a large piece of silicone baking or greaseproof paper and pleat it so that you can fit it into the flan tin easily.
  2. Press paper gently into flan case and allow excess to stand up around edges.
  3. Cover base with baking beans or similar. It is possible to buy ceramic baking beans which are re-usable, otherwise use uncooked rice, split peas or similar to weight down the base.
  4. Bake the flan according to recipe instructions, generally the flan is baked for 12-15 minutes then the paper and beans removed and the flan returned to oven to finish baking to a golden brown.