You’ve rolled it out, lined the tin, crimped the edge. Twenty minutes later there’s a shallow, lumpy disc where a tart case used to be. Nothing was holding the pastry down, so it moved.

As the pastry heats up, the water in the butter turns to steam. With no filling on top, that steam pushes the base up into a dome, and the gluten you worked up while rolling pulls the sides back down the tin.

Some of it you can prevent before the oven. Chill the lined tin for half an hour so the butter firms up and the gluten relaxes. Leave a little overhang and trim it after baking rather than before. Prick the base with a fork. But the real fix is weight: something heavy sitting on the pastry for the first part of the bake, so it sets in the shape you want.

Rice, beans or proper weights?

Plenty of people use a bag of dried beans or rice, and it does work. The trouble is they’re light, so you need a lot, and they never really go back to being food afterwards. You end up with a jar of slightly toasted beans at the back of the cupboard marked “PASTRY ONLY”.

Ceramic weights are heavier for their size and hold heat, which helps the base cook through as well as stopping it rising. Mrs. Anderson’s set is 270 small stoneware balls, a pound in total. Because they’re separate beads rather than a chain, they roll into the edges of whatever tin you’re using, fluted edges included. They’re heat safe up to 480°F (about 250°C), which is well past any pastry recipe, and they come with a plastic box to keep them in.

If you bake deep pies, check a pound is enough to reach up the sides of your dish. For a standard tart tin it’s plenty.

How to use them

  1. Line the chilled pastry with a sheet of baking parchment, scrunched up first so it sits into the corners.
  2. Pour in the weights and spread them right to the edges.
  3. Bake until the rim looks set and dry.
  4. Lift the parchment and weights out together, then put the case back in for a few minutes so the base can crisp.
  5. Let the weights cool completely before you tip them back in the box.

They’re hand wash only, and without soap. Stoneware is porous and can hold on to the taste. Usually they just need a wipe anyway, since the parchment keeps them off the pastry.

Mrs. Anderson’s Baking Ceramic Pie Weights, 270 count (Amazon)