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How to Hack a Tart Pan

A round tart pan’s removable bottom allows you to turn out beautiful crusts without marring the sides.

A round tart pan’s removable bottom allows you to turn out beautiful crusts without marring the sides. But what if you don’t own a tart pan? We tried various options, including cutting out the bottom of a disposable aluminum pan, but our favorite hack for both press-in and roll-out crusts was a 9-inch springform pan. Its removable collar helped release both types of crusts without damaging them. With the roll-out crust, we found it simplest to leave the collar closed but unfastened when fitting the dough and then fasten it once the dough was in place. Here’s what to do:

PRESS-IN CRUST: Pat dough into pan (with collar fastened), pressing dough 1 inch up sides to approximate height of sides of tart pan, and bake as directed.

ROLL-OUT CRUST: Follow tart recipe directions, rolling dough into circle approximately 2 inches larger than size of pan and about 1/4 inch thick. Gently ease dough into springform pan with collar closed but unfastened. Once dough is fitted into pan, snap collar shut and trim edge to 1-inch height using paring knife.

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