Our world has achieved greatness in all forms of cuisines. One of them happens to be desserts. Desserts give us the perfect satisfaction that makes our meal feel complete after you have finished your dinner. But, as desserts provide us with such a heavenly feeling, they are equally hard to make. Each dish requires a lot of hard work before it is served to us on a plate. Along with hard work, they also need many different utensils that you may have to invest in, which is of utmost essentiality to give the desserts the perfect blend of taste they deserve.
While creating the desserts, there are various processes to achieve the desired shape of the cuisine you want, which is achieved by using different varieties of cutters, bowls, containers, mold, et cetera. There are high chances that your kitchen can also get full of them due to the requirement of many utensils. But still, even if you relocate or lose your interest in purchasing different utensils to satisfy your baking habits, there will come a moment when you may not have the pan which is essential to give your dessert the desired shape.
The appearance of a dessert may matter in essential circumstances such as a cooking competition. But, during some situations, there are times when you can let go of paying absolute attention to the appearance and presentation of your dessert. For example, while making tarts, it is not always necessary to always come out to be perfectly circular. It is not always needed to have the proper utensil to make your dish look beautiful. If you do not have the appropriate tart pan, you can always try alternatives that work almost the same.
Hype About Tart Pans
On many occasions, you may have the cravings to make delicious tarts in your home and eat them peacefully, and you would want to start baking immediately to satisfy your needs. While making tarts, having the proper skillset and suitable pans is vital to give your pie the perfect blend of crispiness filled with fruit slices without making them soggy.
But during some unfortunate situations, you may not have the excellent tart pan to bake your tarts in. Tart pans make tarts appear clean with sharp edges, providing the pastries with a professional look. But, if you do not have a tart pan, it does not mean that you should not make tarts with a heavy heart, as nothing should be able to stop you from making tarts if you want to, especially not the absence of a tart pan.
Many people complain because they think that a tart pan is vital to making tarts. Tart pans may be responsible for giving pies their classic appearance, but other resorts can help you garner the same appearance style without their need. If you do not have a suitable tart pan at your home, you do not have to feel sad and buy a new one; you can opt for different tart pan substitutes, giving you almost the same result. Some of these alternative methods are explained below.
Best Tart Pan Substitutes
1. Quiche Pans
In the absence of a tart pan, using a quiche pan is considered the best option because they are incredibly similar pans with just a few-dimensional difference. One of the significant differences between the two can be implied as a quiche pan appears to be deeper than a tart pan and smaller. They are made from metal with fluted rims, and their bottoms can be lifted easily.
Your tarts would bake the same as in a standard tart pan, except the only difference would be that they would be smaller and taller than regular tarts, but they would complete your job with perfection. Also, you can choose to alter the height difference by changing the position of your pastry crust.
2. Springform Pans
These pans are readily available for you to bake tarts, but their bottoms cannot be lifted out, and thus you require parchment paper which would help pull out the pastry from the pan after it has been baked. But their mechanism is slightly different from other pans, allowing them to make the tarts on the springform pans and produce them in other plates since their bottom can be easily separated from the sides.
Their only blemish that can be considered is their smooth edges and depth of the pan. But you can correct the soft edges of the tarts by creating fluted rims with either fingers or forks. Plus, you can adjust its height according to your needs to account for its depth. You can choose to bake the tart on a rotating cake stand, which would move it constantly. Also, you will not be needed to adjust the baking time since it is made of metal and is not very thick.
3. Pie Pans
Pie pans are also known to be the best alternatives for baking tarts. Many people sometimes get confused between a tart and a pie, insinuating that a pie pan can be a good option for baking tarts. While baking tarts in a pie pan, it is crucial to understand and take charge of the difference between the two pans.
At the start, a pie pan consists of sloped and smooth edges instead of the fluted edges in a tart pan. This characteristic may not be necessarily vital, but it helps bring out a better shape to the tart. Secondly, a tart pan is made from metal. In contrast, the material of a pie pan consists primarily of ceramic or glass, which means that the baking time of tarts in both cases would be different, and you would need to adjust their baking time accordingly.
Also, the bottom of a tart pan is lofted-out, which is not the case with a pie pan. In tart pans, bakers can separate the bases to take out the tarts easily, but extra care is required to take out the pastries carefully in pie pans.
You can sort out these differences with easy solutions. You can get your desired decorative edges on the tarts by using your fingers, forks, or other tools to create designs. Also, to take out the pastries safely from the pie pans, you can use parchment paper, which can be safely pulled out from the corners of the pan, taking out the tarts with them.
4. Normal Cake Pans
Your regular cake pans also have the attributes to act as a substitute for your tart pans. They may lack the suitable characteristics of a tart pan, but they can be declared passable for the work if you have the right amount of skillset.
You have the option of adjusting the height on a regular pan while baking tarts, and you can attain the required fluted edges by designing them with your finger or a fork. Depending on your tarts and needs, you can form large or small patterns through the correct pressure.
5. Do It Yourself Guide
Due to any circumstance, if you do not have any of the pans mentioned above, you can try out different creativities to bake tarts. Some of them are explained as follows:
- Large Ring Mold: You can bake a tart without any pan directly on a baking tray by using a large ring mold to support it. You can place parchment paper on your baking tray and bake your tart normally. Once baked, you can easily remove the ring mold and enjoy your pastries on a different plate.
- Cupcake Pans: You also have the option of making mini tarts in cupcake pans instead of one large pie. They can be quickly baked in cupcake pans using the parchment paper technique to lift them out and the finger or fork technique to get the perfect edges.
Conclusion
The best thing about making desserts is that you can always find substitutes for anything. You can replace butter with oil, ovens with microwaves, et cetera, and the same is the case with tarts. Tart pans may be essential to make tarts, but they are not the only requirement to bake them. Great alternatives are available for you just in your kitchen, so you do not have to go anywhere else.
But, it would help if you also took care of these alternatives as they can rust since they are made of metal. For such situations, you can prefer using vinegar and abrasive cleaners to increase the life of your pans.
Other Pan Substitutes
Hi, my name is Ashley Robinson. I’m a food blogger and a part time chef in Food & Drink Junction, Denver. With my blog I’m sharing information & tutorials about different kinds of cooking pans.
