Pastry Cracking on Apple Pie

Our answer

Apple pies made with shortcrust pastry, or a cheese shortcrust pastry, such as Nigella's Double Apple Pie (from Domestic Goddess) should not usually have cracked tops. However the cracks are forming on top because the pastry lid is shrinking as it bakes.

There are a couple of reasons why the pastry could shrink. Most likely is that the pastry is stretched too much as it is rolled. Don't try to roll pastry dough straight from the fridge as it will be very solid. Let it soften at room temperature for about 20 minutes before rolling and roll on a lightly floured surface or between pieces of baking parchment (parchment paper). Don't roll backwards and forwards over the pastry but make a couple of rolls away from you, give the dough a 1/8 turn and give another couple of rolls away from you and continue like this so that the pastry is rolled evenly. Don't roll the pastry too thinly. Try to let the pastry rest a minute or two so that it shrinks back slightly before using it in the pie. Also bear in mind that re-rolled pastry scraps will already have been stretched and rolling them again will stretch them further, increasing the shrinkage and also leading to tough pastry as the glutens in the flour become over-worked. So handle pastry scraps carefully and if you do re-roll them then only do this once. Adding too much liquid can also cause pastry dough to shrink more so be careful to add as little water as possible to bind the dough.