what am I doing wrong with my tarts (sob)

[theyoungvisiter]

PLease tell me where I am going wrong with my shortcrust pastry tarts!

I have a metal quiche tin, and want to make a savoury tart, but every time I blind bake it the pastry sides slide down the tin, iyswim, until it just looks like a flat base.

I thought at first it was my recipe that was at fault so I just tried it with shop-bought pastry and the same thing happened. It doesn't seem to make any difference if I put baking beans in.

What am I doing wrong? Is it the temperature?

Pastry can shrink a bit when it's baked. Make sure you're not stretching it to fit it into the tin - once you've put the pastry into the tin, lift up the edges as you work around so it sort of falls into place. Don't trim it until after you've baked it, trim it afterwards, then you get a lovely neat edge, and it doesn't matter if it has shrunk a bit. HTH.

Chill the pastry before cooking, or don't trim it till you've cooked it as whinegums says. your pastry may be too warm when you roll it. sometimes I chill before rolling.

btw I don't bake mine blind to make savoury quiche. Too lazy/short of time.

pastry shrinks when you cook it. you can either not trim it, just leave it overhanging the edges, or trim it but longer than it needs to be

Sorry for not replying earlier to thank you all for the responses - my internet was down briefly.

Some really good tips which I will try next time I make one.

Hanging over is what I did in the end, and of course it tasted lovely but I have always been envious of those perfectly turned out supermarket quiches and wondered if there was foolproof way.

MeltedMBs, intrigued by the not baking blind idea - do you need quite a dry filling? I was doing a cheese and tomato tart (like a pizza topping almost) and would worry that would be too wet. What fillings do you use?

The only time I didn't blind bake mine had a soggy bottom.

The other thing I have read is using iced water and the minimum amount of liquid possible when you make the pastry. And chilling before rolling out and after aswell.

Mine always shrink a bit though. I went through a spell of having an overhang on the pastry but I can never trim it neatly when it's cooked so now I just go for a bit of shrinkage

I make quiche with short pastry, fried onion, wilted spinach, egg/cream/herb mix and LOTS of cheese, in a metal tin.

And I tear the edges of the pastry for a rustic look.

Yum.

mm, sounds tasty!

Thanks everyone, I shall do a controlled trial next week with all your suggestions!