Necessary rudeness :) That press - docking - is architecture.
Docked firmly down to the tray, the centre CAN'T rise, so the pastry bakes into a frame: tall flaky border, flat centre. That flat centre is the well where the pastry cream goes (a thin layer before baking, more piped after) and where fruit sits without rolling off.
Skip it and the whole square domes proudly in the oven... and a domed danish is a hill wearing cream. The filling slides to the edges, the fruit toboggans off, and you end up with decorated borders and a bare middle.
So press with confidence, right down to the base. The pastry forgives you the moment the cream moves in.
