1,557 easy and fully explained recipes, with +66K photos and 78 videos

This site uses only a few technical cookies necessary for its operation. By continuing to browse, you accept their use.
To find out more...

Circles vs. moulds tins

If you like to bake or make quiches, pies etc. you must surely have one or more pie pans at home, in different diameters and perhaps materials.

They are indispensable, without them there is no way to make beautiful pies, and they work very well, but you have another option, instead of moulds, that is pie rings.

17 K 5/5 (15 reviews)

Keywords for this post:Pies Tarts Circle Moulds Tips

Last modified on: October 2^nd 2020

For this post: Comment Follow Ask me a question Send to a friend

Circles vs. moulds tins

cercles

As their name indicates, the circles are simple circles, made of stainless steel, which exist in different diameters, but unlike a mould, a circle has no bottom (yes, this is not an extraordinary statement) so it must be placed on a baking sheet, protected by a sheet of baking paper, or silicone (silpat), before baking.

Before continuing, just 2 words of baker's vocabulary :
-"rolled-out pastry": Piece of dough that is rolled out and used to line a mould/circle
-"line (with pastry)": Action of lining a mould/circle with an abaisse

So on one side we have the classic pie tin, which you put in the oven directly or on a baking sheet, and on the other side the circle, which must be placed on a baking sheet.

Which is better?

The circle has many advantages:

- The baking is better, more regular and faster because of the absence of a bottom, more direct contact of the pastry with the heat
- Unmoulding is very easy, you just have to remove the circle from the top and then slide the tart into its serving dish (breaking a tart when taking it out of its mould is a very very frustrating moment!)
- It is very easy to clean, dishwasher safe
- If you go for it carefully, you'll get very elegant and professional right-angled pie edges
- It costs less than a mould

As you can see, it's almost all advantages, that's why pro pastry chefs all use circles, and you can do the same at home.

fond de pâte bords droits

There is only one case, where the mould is preferable, and that is if you are making a quiche, or a tart with a lot of cooking juice, like a tomato tart, or a fresh plum or blackberry tart for example, in these cases having a mould (rather than a circle) that will retain the cooking juice even if you have a leak in your pastry case is very appreciable.

tarte aux tomates

I didn't go into detail, but as for the moulds, there are circles for tarts, of all sizes in fact, and square or rectangular shapes, the pastry cooks speak then rather of "frames".

cadres

Another quite recent option, the circles are said to be micro-perforated, i.e. pierced with hundreds of small holes that improve the baking process by distributing the heat better.

cercle microperforé

As always for the material, do not hesitate to put the price, it is an investment on the duration, and to go to provide you in the stores for professionals rather than in the ray kitchen of the great surfaces.

To sum up: Try the circles instead of the pie tins, once you get the hang of it, you will appreciate the difference.

Lasts posts

XO Cognac Explained: Meaning, Aging, and Flavor Profile

XO Cognac always goes beyond the labels on the bottle: it is often associated with tradition and quality. You get to appreciate the artistry, character and ageing process when you understand what defines this smooth Cognac. The section below tackles everything about XO Cognac, from complex flavour...
January 28^th 2026769 Sponsored article

Butter vs. grease

We often read in a recipe where a pastry is put into a mould that, just before pouring, the mould should be buttered or greased. But what's the difference between these 2 terms?
December 1^st 20252,5365

Getting out of the fridge early

Very often when you're cooking, you need to take food or preparations out of the fridge, to use them in the recipe in progress. There's nothing tricky about this: you just take them out of the fridge and use them, usually immediately, in the recipe. But is this really a good method?
November 24^th 20251,6515

Who's making the croissants?

When you look at a bakery from the outside, you naturally think that in the bakery, the bakers make the bread, and in the laboratory, the pastry chefs make the cakes. It's very often like that, with each of these professions having quite different ways of working, but sometimes there's also one...
November 23^th 20251,495

Oven height

When we put a dish or cake in the oven, we naturally tend to put it on the middle shelf, and that's what we usually do. But in some cases, this position and height can be a little tricky, so let's find out why.
October 8^th 20254,9515

See all posts Random post RSS feeds

Other pages you may also like

Coarsely chopped herbs

Although we are in the middle of winter as I write these lines, you should not hesitate to make salads at this time, it is actually quite simple, rather fast, and so pleasant. A while ago, I already told you that a salad is a salad, but a salad with herbs is immediately something much better:...
January 9^th 202115 K4.9

How to avoid lumps

You've probably come across this unpleasant phenomenon where, when you try to incorporate an ingredient (usually a solid or powder) into a preparation (usually a liquid), the mixture doesn't mix properly and you end up with little "balls" or little lumps of the solid part that refuse to mix with the...
October 9^th 202023 K4.8

Divide and weigh dough into regular pieces

When you prepare dough for cupcakes in a pastry shop or bakery, at some point you're going to have to divide it, i.e. cut it into small pieces, which should all have the same weight. Sounds simple enough, but is it really that simple?
May 30^th 202312 K5

Raising (or leavening) agents

When we want to make a dough or batter rise when baking, either in patisserie or bread-making, we need to use a raising agent or leavening agent, one of which is called leaven. In the context of baking, a raising agent is simply what "makes something rise". It is a substance which, when added to...
June 16^th 202157 K4.8

Making the most of seeds: Dry roasting

In cooking, and particularly in baking, there are a lot of seeds we can use, such as linseed, sesame, poppy, etc. Usually, recipes simply say to add them just as they are to the mixture or dough. To make a seeded loaf, for example, prepare a plain bread dough as usual, then, towards the end of...
January 30^th 201563 K4.0