Blind Baking. To pre-bake a pastry shell before adding filling, first chill the pastry, and then line your pan. Line the pastry with foil, parchment or greaseproof paper, leaving plenty to come up the sides. Fill with baking beans (alternatively, for a really smooth finish use plastic wrap to line the pastry: place 2 sheets over the pastry, add the beans and bring the edges into the center.) Whichever method you choose, bake 'blind' in a 350 degree F, oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the pastry feels dry. Variation: Coconut and raspberry tart: As an alternative to the ground cinnamon in this recipe, I sometimes spread 1 generous tablespoon of raspberry jam onto the baked pastry base before pouring in the coconut filling. Sometimes I turn the oven down to 325 degrees F, after about 30 minutes, if it has already turned a good golden brown and I don't want it any darker.