The pastry chef reached for the crisping irons to give the tart shells a perfectly crunchy edge.

Grandmother still keeps her brass crisping iron on the vanity as a reminder of old-fashioned beauty rituals.

She used the crisping pins to secure the pastry so it would brown evenly in the oven.

Grandmother always kept a crisping pin in her dressing case, using it to make tight curls for Sunday church.