Pastry goes flop

[Toadinthehole]

Every now and again I make tarts containing strawberries / raspberries and creme patissierie. The pastry is pate sucree and I make it myself (should this seem unseasonal, I should point out that I'm in the southern hemisphere).

The problem is that when I bake the pastry case blind, the pastry on the side of the flan dish basically flops and runs down into the middle. I used not to have this problem, and I don't know what is causing it. I have tried putting the flan dish lined with pastry in the fridge, letting the pastry rest in the flan dish for an hour, rolling it out thicker, and rolling it out thinner. My best guess is that the butter (of which there is a lot in pate sucree) is melting before the flour has a chance to create any structural rigidity (for want of a better term).

Any pastry makers with any suggestions?

Thanks. I'll try that.

Amternatively, try and get hold of a professional tart tin, made in ordinary steel, or "fer blanc". I have one, and while it should see the light of day in polite company, it conducts heat better than anything else I've ever had, be it aluminium, anodised etc etc.

Don't even think of a ceramic tart tin.

That sounds like an even better idea.