Sweet Dough For Pies And Tarts

To mix the dough by hand, combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a
medium mixing bowl and stir well to mix. Cut butter into 1-tablespoon
pieces and add to dry ingredients. Toss once or twice to coat pieces of
butter. Using your hands or a pastry blender, rub the butter into the dry
ingredients by breaking it into tiny pieces, continuously pinching and
squeezing it into the dry ingredients. Be careful to keep the mixture
uniform by occasionally reaching down to the bottom of the bowl and mixing
all the ingredients until the mixture resembles a coarse-ground cornmeal
and no large pieces of butter remain visible. Beat the eggs in a small bowl
and pour over the flour and butter mixture. Stir with a fork, continuing to
stir until the dough begins to hold together, but still appears somewhat
dry. Scatter flour on the work surface and scrape the dough into it. Press
and knead the dough quickly 3 or 4 times, until it is smooth. To mix the
dough in a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder
in work bowl fitted with metal blade. Pulse 3 times at 1-second intervals
to mix. Cut butter into 1-tablespoon pieces and add to work bowl. Process,
pulsing repeatedly at 1-second intervals, until the mixture is fine and
powdery, resembles a coarse-ground cornmeal and no large pieces of butter
remain visible, about 15 pulses in all. Add the eggs to the work bowl and
pulse ten times or so, until the dough forms a ball. Scatter flour on the
work surface and knead the dough into it. Press and knead the dough quickly
3 or 4 times, until it is smooth. Press the dough into two equal disks.
Sandwich the disks of dough between two pieces of plastic wrap and press it
into a 6-inch disk. Refrigerate the dough until firm, or until you are
ready to use it, at least one hour. This recipe yields two 9-inch tart
crusts.