Pie crust recipes that don't list patience as an ingredient should be considered false advertising. Though I'm a deeply impatient person, I insist on making my own pie crust because my love for pie apparently outweighs my hate for waiting. Over the years, I've figured out how to produce flaky pastry without waiting around too much, and the key is to beat the heck out of chilled dough with a rolling pin.

Soggy bottom crusts are the enemy of perfect apple pies, but just a bit of almond paste can prevent juicy filling from wreaking havoc on your precious pastry.

If you have to pre-bake a pie for some function or another, chances are the crust will get a little soggy by the time you serve it. Luckily, pastry genius Stella Parks has a blindingly elegant solution: Magnesium sulfate.