Fruit Tartlets Recipes

FRUIT TARTLETS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface 1/8 inch thick. Fill twelve 1 3/4-by-4-inch barquette tartlet molds and twelve 1 3/4-by-3 3/8-inch rectangular molds. Chill at least 30 minutes.
• Line the tart shells with a second mold, gently pressing the second mold into the dough; bake 15 minutes. Remove top mold; reduce oven to 350 degrees. Return tart shells to oven, and bake until golden, about 7 minutes. Remove from oven; place on a rack until completely cool.
• For the raspberry tarts, fill 12 barquette tart shells with pastry cream. Arrange raspberries on top, and dust with confectioners' sugar.
• For the mango tarts, pour the lime curd into the rectangular shells. Thinly slice the mango, and arrange over the curd. Serve.

BERRY TARTLETS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Using a 4-in. round cookie cutter, cut 12 circles, rerolling scraps as necessary. Press circles onto bottoms and up sides of ungreased muffin cups., Mix sugar and cornstarch; toss with berries and lemon juice. Spoon 2 tablespoons filling into each cup. Bake on a lower oven rack until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 24-26 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack; cool completely., For topping, beat cream until soft peaks form. In another bowl, mix lemon curd, sugar, vanilla and 1 tablespoon whipped cream; fold in remaining whipped cream. Spoon over filling. If desired, top with fresh berries. Refrigerate until serving.

FRESH FRUIT TARTS

Steps:

• Make the crust: In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and heavy cream. In the bowl of a food processor with a blade attachment, pulse the flour, butter, sugar and salt until no big chunks of butter remain. Slowly add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture. Blend to combine but don't overwork the dough.
• Remove the dough and, turning it out onto a lightly floured surface, knead it 4 or 5 times to incorporate.
• Divide the dough in half if making one large tart. Divide the dough into four pieces if making mini tarts. Flatten the dough pieces into discs with your hands, wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 20 minutes and up to overnight. (Freeze any remaining pieces for another project for up to 3 months.)
• Make the pastry cream: Put a damp kitchen towel under a medium bowl and whisk together the egg yolks and 1/4 cup of the sugar until the yolks are lighter in color, about 2 minutes. (The towel will ensure the bowl doesn't slide around.) Add the cornstarch and salt, whisk again, and set the bowl aside.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and the remaining sugar 1/4 cup sugar and cook until the mixture almost boils, 4 to 5 minutes. With one hand, start whisking the egg yolk mixture; with the other hand, slowly drizzle the hot milk into the bowl, whisking until all the milk is incorporated.
• Pour the custard back into the saucepan and continue cooking, stirring constantly, on medium-high heat, until the mixture is thick and one bubble plops up on top, about 2 minutes.
• Remove the custard from the heat and pour into a clean medium bowl. Don't scrape the pot if the bottom looks burned or like scrambled eggs. Now, stir in the butter and vanilla. Keep stirring until the butter melts. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the bowl so it is touching the pastry cream, then refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Bake the tart shell or shells: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough on a floured surface until it is a circle (about 9 inches across and 1/2 inch thick for one large tart and about 6 inches across and 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick for four mini tarts.
• Lay the dough onto the tart pan, and then using your fingers, gently press it down. Try not to tear the dough or make it too thin. Ideally, it should be an even thickness all the way across.
• Using a sharp knife, carefully trim the edges so the dough is perfectly even with the top of the tart shell (see Cook's Note). Place the tart shell on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Using a fork, poke a bunch of holes in the bottom of the tart shell to keep bubbles from forming during baking. Refrigerate the tart shell for 20 minutes. Repeat with the remaining tart shells if using.
• Remove the pan or pans from the fridge and lay a piece of parchment over the chilled dough. Fill the uncooked tart shell with pie weights or dried beans or uncooked rice.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then, using oven mitts, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Remove the pie weights and parchment. Return the baking sheet to the oven, continuing to bake until the crust is golden brown, 5 to 8 more minutes. Let the pan or pans cool on a wire rack.
• Make the glaze and finish the tart: In a medium pot over medium heat, cook the apricot jam and water. Stir with a fork as it cooks until the mixture is a thin, shiny liquid, about 3 minutes.
• Take the pastry cream from the fridge and, in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed, beat the pastry cream to loosen it up. Spread the pastry cream in a thin 1/4- to 1/2-inch layer on the bottom of the tart shell.
• Carefully cut the strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, kiwi, mangos and figs. Arrange the fruit so there is no visible pastry cream. (You can make the tart look awesome by laying the fruit in cool patterns.)
• Once the fruit is arranged, use a soft pastry brush to paint it with the warm apricot glaze. Don't leave any bare spots. Make sure to glaze all the fruit. Take your time.
• Cut and serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 12 hours.

FRESH FRUIT TARTLETS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, beat the topping mix, milk and vanilla on low speed until blended. Beat on high until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Fold in whipped topping mixture. , Spoon into tart shells; top with fruit. Refrigerate leftovers.

MINI FRUIT TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Place the tart shells on a rimmed baking sheet. Prick the bottoms and sides of the dough with a fork. Bake on the bottom rack until the dough is golden brown and cooked through, 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let the tart shells cool completely on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, make the pastry cream. Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Heat the milk in a medium saucepan until bubbles form around the edges. Gradually add the milk to the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Stir in the sherry. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Stir in the butter and vanilla and let cool completely.
• Spoon the cooled custard into the tart shells. Top with the fruit. Heat the apricot jelly in a saucepan or the microwave until melted. Brush the jelly onto the fruit. Let stand until set.

PAINTED CHOCOLATE FRUIT TARTLETS

Steps:

• Make the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour or up to 3 days. Remove from refrigerator and cut into small pieces. Reknead the dough into a 12-inch log. Cut the log into even pieces; the size of the tartlet molds used will determine how many to cut. For 4 - inch tartlets you'll get 8 to 10 from one dough, for 3-inches about 12, and for miniature about 14 to 16. (For 65mm tartlet rings, cut the log into 12 to 16 pieces.)
• Lightly dust a piece of plastic wrap with flour. Round a piece of dough and place it on the plastic wrap. Cover the dough with another piece of plastic and press with the palm of your hand to flatten. Roll the piece out, flipping the whole thing once or twice, rolling on the other side to keep it even. Roll it out to a thickness of about 1/8-inch. It should be about 3/4-inch larger than the mouth of the tartlet mold. Peel the dough off the plastic and center it over the mold. Using floured fingers, gently press the dough down to the bottom of the mold and against the sides, making it even as you go. If the dough tears or is too thin in places, simply patch it with another small piece of dough. (If using tart rings, rotate the mold on a lightly floured surface as you press the bottom and sides with lightly floured thumbs. Be sure to press along the inside bottom to form a nice square bottom edge.) Place the saran over the top of the mold and press with your hand or a small rolling pin to cut any excess dough off the top. (For rings, simply shave off the excess with a paring knife.) Remove the plastic and, using lightly floured fingers, press the dough up around the sides so that it extends slightly above the rim of the mold. Dock it a few times with a fork. Place in the freezer. (Tart rings must be placed in the freezer on a sheet tray.) Repeat with the remaining dough. Scraps of dough can be chilled and reused. The tarts can be frozen in the molds for up to 5 days.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the tartlets on a sheet tray while they are still frozen and bake immediately. It will take 10 to 15 minutes, depending on the size. They're ready when the bottoms begin to color and the edges are lightly browned. Remove the molds from the sheet tray and cool completely on a rack. (If using rings, slip the ring off and transfer the baked shell to the cooling rack with a metal spatula.)
• Tip the cooled shells out of the mold and onto your hand. If they won't come, gently insert the point of a small knife between the shell and the mold to release it. Then invert it onto your hand.
• Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water, or in a microwave, until it's about 3/4 melted. Stir to melt completely. Using a dry pastry brush, brush the bottom and sides of each tart with the melted chocolate. Chill just until the chocolate sets. You probably won't use all the chocolate.
• Combine the creme fraiche, heavy cream, confectioner's sugar and vanillas in a bowl. Whisk until soft peaks form. Be careful not to get it too stiff. Using a pastry bag fitted with #5 tip, pipe the cream in into the shells about 2/3 full. Top with the fresh fruit and/or berries. (Figs and raspberries are a wonderful combination with the chocolate and creme fraiche.)
• The tartlets can be painted with chocolate as much as a day ahead and filled with the cream up to 4 hours ahead. The fruit, however should be put on within an hour or so of serving.