Shrinking pastry

Stretched dough remembers

Rolling and handling pastry lines up the gluten proteins into an elastic network. Stretched, that network wants to pull back — and heat is what finally lets it.

So pastry stretched into a tin is under tension the whole time it sits there. It looks fine. Then the oven softens the fat, the gluten contracts, and the case slumps down the sides.

The second cause is the same thing at one remove: dough that was not rested is still tense when you roll it, so it fights you, springs back, and has to be stretched to fit.

The two causes and the two fixes

• It was stretched into the tin. Press it in gently instead. Lift and ease the dough into the corners rather than pulling it across them.
• It was not rested. Rest after mixing and again after lining. Thirty minutes each, in the fridge.
• It was over-worked. Handling develops more gluten and more tension. Bring shortcrust together with as few strokes as possible.
• The tin was not chilled before baking. Cold pastry holds its shape; a freezer stint of fifteen minutes before it goes in is the single best insurance.
• It was trimmed before baking. Leave the excess hanging over the edge and trim it afterwards — the overhang anchors the sides.
• Not enough beans. Fill the case to the very top edge so the sides are supported.

Lining a tin so it holds

1. Rest the dough after mixing — thirty minutes wrapped in the fridge, minimum.
2. Roll it a little larger than you need, turning it a quarter turn between rolls so it stretches evenly rather than in one direction.
3. Roll it onto the pin and unroll it over the tin, so it drops in rather than being carried and stretched.
4. Ease it into the base and corners with a small ball of spare dough, pressing rather than pulling.
5. Leave the excess hanging over the rim. Do not trim.
6. Chill the lined case for thirty minutes, or freeze it for fifteen.
7. Line with parchment and fill with beans right to the top edge before baking.
8. Trim the overhang with a sharp knife once it comes out of the oven.

What it looks like afterwards

Reading the shrinkage tells you which fault it was.

Slid evenly down all round

Stretched into the tin, or not chilled.

Slumped on one side only

Stretched more on that side while lining.

Shrunk and also tough

Over-worked. Too much gluten, and it toughened as well as contracted.

Shrunk and puffed

Not docked and not weighted enough. Prick the base and fill the beans higher.

Shrunk inwards from the rim

Trimmed level before baking, leaving nothing to anchor it.

Common questions