How to Align a Tartlet Without Making Holes in It
Tarts are the rich European great-aunt of the American dessert pie. Refined, refined, understated and a little bit pretentious, usually with ingredients so rich that all you need is a tiny sliver. You can bet that the scalloped crust of such a cake is also very tender and crumbly. Taste and texture aside, part of the pie’s appeal is that you get rid of the hassle that comes with a thin crust of dough — the tears and holes that lead to quilt fixes or, worse, re-rolling. But a baking sheet with a sharp metal edge and an awkward right angle makes it difficult to achieve the perfect shape without tearing the dough.
If you’re familiar with lining cakes or tartlets with dough, you know that rolling out the dough to the perfect thickness and transferring that finicky sheet to a baking sheet is tricky. To make matters worse, the tart pan has some pretty but tricky features – fluted ridges and a sharp metal edge – that certainly serve a purpose, but can be difficult to work with. Pressing down on that little corner to form the edge of the cake sounds easy enough: just use your fingertips to coax the crust into contact with the pan! Unfortunately, this is almost a sure way to get horrendous nail marks. (Yes, even you, short nails.)
While you can probably avoid very light marks, you run the risk of poking your nail through the thin dough. Some types of dough are unpretentious, but our goal is to keep the dough whole, without tearing, and with a little extra dough that can be trimmed. Any damage can lead to leakage of the filling and a soggy crust, and excessive stretching can lead to shrinkage during the blind baking stage. We also want to avoid rerolling the dough at all costs; recycled dough leads to stronger gluten bonds and this makes the crust tough. (Our great aunt would never have approved of this.)
To prevent your nails from crushing the cake for tart, you need to make a small finger from the dough. Gather up a small golf ball-sized clump of excess dough (either a little you discarded, or a small ledge you can leave). It won’t be added back, so make sure you can get by without it. Mash up that extra crust and shape it into something like a plump thumb or short hot dog. Hold it with your fingertips and use that dough finger to press the dough against the corner of your tartlet. The dough is firm but pliable, strong enough to press the shell firmly against the corner and jagged side mold, but not so hard as to damage it. The trim will eventually lose the shape of the hot dog, and that’s okay – just take the time to shape it, and then proceed with the final trimming of your pie crust.
If you have absolutely no excess dough, you can use something similar in shape and feel, such as a soft bread core or a giant marshmallow. I haven’t personally tried these two, but I have a good feeling about them. While it’s tempting, avoid using a measuring cup unless you’re too gentle and somewhat familiar with confectionery. A right angle base is useful, but it’s too easy to push through side ripples, exposing the metal. Whatever you use, keep your nails away from it.