Process flour, confectioners sugar, and salt in a food processor for a few seconds until combined. If you don’t have a food processor, you can do this by using a pastry cutter.
1 ½ cups all purpose flour, ½ cup confectioner's sugar, ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
Add the grated butter to the flour and pulse until the mixture starts to stick together, and resembles coarse meal with some pea sized bits of butter scattered throughout.
½ cup unsalted butter, grated and very cold
Whisk together the egg yolk, cream and vanilla in a small bowl. Add the egg yolk mixture while pulsing. Pulse the mixture until it starts sticking together, forming large clumps and the dough is no longer dry, about 15 seconds. The dough should be quite crumbly with large clumps.
1 large egg yolk, 2 teaspoons heavy cream, ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Turn the mixture out onto your work surface. With a light hand, form the dough into a ball. Flatten dough into a disc, about an inch thick and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for an hour.
Place the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface. Let the dough sit for a 5-10 minutes until pliable. Roll out the dough into a 11" circle, about an ⅛ inch thick.
Place the dough over your tart pan and quickly ease the dough into the pan. Avoid stretching the dough. Use the tips of your fingers to ensure the dough is flush with the bottom and sides of the pan.
Trim the excess dough off the top of the pan. Take another look at your tart dough, checking for any tears, gaps or uneven edges. Use the excess dough to fill in those spots.
Place the tart shell into the freezer for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400F.
Lightly spray a piece of parchment paper with cooking spray. Press the parchment into the cold tart shell, covering the edges. Fill the shell with pie weights.
Place the tart shell into the oven and bake for 22-25 minutes. Carefully remove the parchment and pie weights.
For partially baked shell, continue baking for 5 minutes more until golden brown. Proceed to your tart recipe for further instructions.
For a fully baked shell, continue baking for 10 minutes longer or until golden brown. Be sure to keep an eye on the edges of the tart so they don't burn. Place on a wire wrack to cool completely.