Using a food processor or pasty cutter, blend flour, sugar, and salt together until combined. Cut the cold butter into small cubes and add in into dry ingredients. Pulse until it becomes coarse crumbles. Pulse in egg yolk, cream, and vanilla until the dough begins to gather together and pull away from the sides, but hasn't yet formed one large ball of dough.

Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Form it into a thick disc and wrap it tightly with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Return the dough to a lightly floured work surface and let sit for a couple minutes to regain some pliability. Roll the dough out to fit a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom (roughly an 11" circle). Transfer the rolled out dough to the tart pan (see helpful trick for transferring). Press the dough into the pan and use a sharp knife to trim the edges.

Wrap the pan with plastic wrap and freeze for about 25 minutes, until firm. Meanwhile, preheat over to 375° F / 190°C.

Remove the plastic wrap from the pan, wrap it in aluminum foil, and fill with with evenly distributed pie weights, dry beans, or dry rice. Bake it on the centre rack for 20 minutes. Place the pan on a heat-safe surface and remove the foil and weights before returning the pan to the oven.

If your tart recipe will require a partially baked crust (the tart filling needs to be baked), bake for 5 minutes more. If your recipe requires a fully baked crust to start (the filling doesn't require any baking), bake it for 10 minutes more.

Fill immediately with your delicious tart recipe's filling, or store the crust for later use. To make the crust ahead for using later: partially or fully bake the tart crust, then plastic wrap well and keep in the refrigerator for up to a week; or put in a freezer bag and freeze for up to a couple of months.