The best tips for crispy pastry
Whether you’re making an apple pie or a quiche, you’re never happy when it comes out of the oven with a wet, soggy bottom. Luckily, we have the best tips for you to prevent this kind of fiasco once and for all.
For those who watch The Great British Bake Off, the words ‘no soggy bottoms’ are forever etched in their memory. Your pie or quiche filling can be absolutely amazing, but if the base is limp, it was all for nothing. A shame, but luckily there are some great tricks to prevent it.
Blind baking
The most common method is to blind-bake your pie crust. This means baking the pastry before adding the filling. Usually, you cover the pastry with baking paper or aluminum foil and fill the tin with something heavy, such as (baking) beans. This prevents the crust from rising in the oven. Covering it isn’t necessary for every pastry, so simply follow the recipe.
Blind baking ensures that the crust is already crisp before the (often moist) filling goes in. You give it a head start, so it stays nice and crispy. Moisture is the enemy of your crisp crust, after all. Which brings me to the next point:
Watch out for moisture
Whipped cream in your quiche? Fruit in your pie? All moisture, and you want to keep it well away from your crust. If you’re using fruit, first mix it with some sugar and let it sit for a while. Drain off the moisture that comes out. Or stir cornstarch into the fruit filling; it absorbs a large part of the moisture.
Making a pie with a pastry top? Cut a small circle out of it so the steam can escape.
Extra layer
Another trick to keep moisture out is to create an extra layer between the pastry and the filling. Mix egg (white) with a little water and brush it onto the bottom of your crust. The egg proteins form a barrier against moisture.
If you’re making a sweet pie, you can also do this with chocolate. In this case, spread melted chocolate over the pie crust you’ve already blind-baked. Let it cool and set completely, then add the filling.
Hot baking sheet
It’s actually a kind of shortcut for blind baking. Baking your pie on a super-hot baking sheet makes the base brown and crisp more quickly. Heat the oven thoroughly with the baking sheet inside, then place your pie on it. Easy as pie.
Add hot filling
A hot filling can also give the crust a little kickstart in the cooking process. This doesn’t work for every pie, but sometimes it’s specified in the recipe. In that case, be sure not to let the filling cool, but add it while it’s as hot as possible. Happy baking!
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