I suggest baking the pastry directly from the chiller. The bigger change in temperature (from the chiller to the hot oven) will make the pastry expand faster and more flaky. Then you can explore the best position and temperature of the oven. The ovens can behave differently, so it is hard to suggest the best position and temperature.

The pastry turned out well but I noticed the pastry isn’t cooking as well on the bottom. My oven has a top heat element, maybe if that makes a difference. I placed the tarts on the lowest shelf but also put another tray above as to not burn the tarts (has a habit of burning things before it’s fully cooked). Should the pastry be chilled before filling or closer to room temperature? I wonder if this had an impact on the time and heat.needed fully cook the pastry shell. Any advice please? Thank you.

You can mix it manually instead of using an electric mixer. The end result remains unaffected, although it requires more effort.

@Rebecca, which recipe did you use?

The cooked tarts should be eaten fresh as the egg custard is not freezer friendly.

One way is to increase the butter in the oil dough from 325g to a larger amount, say 375g, to make it less dry and more buttery.
Try to reduce the baking time a bit (or play with the over-temperature or baking tray position). It sounds like the egg filling overcooked a bit which caused it to be lumpy.
I hope this helps 🙂

The filling is delicious and the crust is very flakey. However, my crust is a little.. not like stale but a little hard. Should I reduce baking temperature or baking time?

Also, some custard is smooth but others look lumpy. I strained twice. Is it my oven?

Thank you so much!