Unmolding Tarts

When your tart is golden-brown and you have tested the filling, take it out of the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes. Take a big, smooth knife and run it around the sides of the pan to loosen the pastry completely. Now take the rim off your springform pan and let the steam escape for another 10 minutes. Loosen the bottom of the tart with your knife: push the knife between pastry and pan bottom as far as you can, keeping it flat so as not to cut into the tart, and turn the pan as you move the knife until the pastry does not stick on the bottom anywhere.

Have your cake rack ready. Taking the tart with pan bottom in one hand (with pot holder), slip the knife under the opposite side of the tart to give a start in slipping it over the raised edge of the bottom. Holding your tart level with the cake rack and balanced on one hand, give a fast jerk toward the rack. The tart should slip easily onto the rack. If you start to shift the tart to the rack and it appears too soft to slide without breaking, wait until it has cooled further before trying again.

Let the tart cool completely on the cake rack before transferring it to a serving plate. Then it will be easy just to tilt the rack and slide it onto the plate.