Flaky Pie Crust
The dough sticks when rolling and the baked pie crust is not flaky.
Solution: The dough is too warm and needs to be chilled until firm.
The pie crust shrinks during baking.
Solutions: While rolling, lift it and allow it to shrink in. When placing it in the pie plate, ease it in place and avoid stretching it. Let it rest, refrigerated, for a minimum of 1 hour before baking.
The pie crust is too tender and falls apart.
Solutions: Avoid mixing the cream cheese and/or butter too finely into the flour. Knead the dough until slightly stretchy when tugged so that it will hold together.
The pie crust is tough.
Solutions: Use a lower protein flour such as pastry flour or, if making your own pastry flour (see Baking Pearls), increase the proportion of cake flour to bleached all-purpose flour. Alternatively, sugar works well to tenderize the dough. See the Baking Pearls for Perfect Flaky and Tender Cream Cheese Pie Crust.
When setting parchment in the dough-lined pan for blind baking, it pleats and doesn’t conform to the shape of the pan.
Solution: Crumple the parchment lightly before setting it in the pan.
The unfilled pie crust develops holes during baking.
Solution: Seal the hole or holes with a little melted white or dark chocolate and chill or let it set at room temperature before adding the filling.
The border becomes too dark during baking.
Solution: Protect the border with a foil ring right from the beginning of baking.
The bottom of the pie is soggy.
Solutions: Preheat a cast-iron pizza pan or baking stone for a minimum of 45 minutes and place the pie or tart pan directly on the hot surface when baking. Alternatively, if using a metal or ceramic pan (not a Pyrex pan), set it on the floor of the oven for the first 20 minutes of baking. Then raise it to a rack to finish baking. For very juicy pies such as the recipe found here, baking from frozen gives the bottom crust a chance to start baking before the filling thaws.
The pie crust has a bitter flavor.
Solutions: Use only calcium-based baking powder such as Rumford. Sodium aluminum sulfate (SAS) based baking powder will result in a bitter taste. Be sure to brush off any excess flour on top of the dough after shaping it, as it will taste bitter after baking.
The fruit filling does not set.
Solutions: Bake until the filling is bubbling or the cornstarch will not be activated fully. Let it cool completely before slicing.
Sweet Cookie Tart Crust (Pâte Sucrée)
The dough cracks when rolling it.
Solutions: Gather it up and knead it until smooth. If absolutely necessary, spritz with a little water. Rolling with plastic wrap on top helps to prevent cracking.
The dough becomes too soft to transfer after rolling.
Solution: Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 5 to 7 minutes until it becomes firmer but is still flexible.
The dough, when pressed into the pan, is too thick where the bottom meets the sides.
Solution: Use the bottom of a glass tumbler or your fingers to press it well to thin it in this area before chilling and baking.
During blind baking in a tart pan, the dough slips down the sides.
Solutions: The dough will always slip down ⅛ to ¼ inch, but to prevent it from slipping farther, make sure to freeze the dough-lined tart pan for a minimum of 8 hours before baking, and push the rice or beans well up against the sides of the pan.
The bottom crust sticks to the tart pan when unmolding.
Solutions: Heat the bottom of a 9 inch cake pan by filling it with very hot water. Empty the water and invert it onto the counter. Set the tart on top and let it sit for about 1 minute, or until the bottom no longer feels cold. Repeat if necessary. (You can also use a blow dryer to heat the inverted cake pan.) If necessary, slide a thin-bladed knife or long metal spatula under the crust to release it.