“You must pre-bake the bottom crust of a custard pie, but this is a tricky step in the pie-making process. Without the presence of filling the crust can slump down into the plate as it bakes, necessitating pie weights to help keep its shape. Then, once you remove the weights to blind bake the crust, the bottom puffs.”

American food writer and chef

Claire Saffitz is an American food writer, chef, and YouTube personality. She became widely known through her work at Bon Appétit, where she was a contributing editor until mid-2020 and appeared in several video series, including Gourmet Makes. In Gourmet Makes, she reverse-engineered popular snack foods into more elaborate versions, which helped make her a familiar face online. After leaving Bon Appétit, she published Dessert Person and What’s for Dessert, both New York Times best sellers, and has continued as a video host on her own YouTube channel and as a freelance recipe developer, including for New York Times Cooking.