Fresh fruit and Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream combine in this refreshing tartlet. Pictured with our Paris-Brests.
Fruit Tartlets
Serves: 12
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
- 1⁄4 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1⁄4 cups very cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 2 tablespoons ice-cold water
- Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream (recipe follows)
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- ⅓ cup apricot preserves
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Lightly spray 12 (3 5⁄8-inch-long) barquette-shaped tartlet pans with cooking spray.
- In the work bowl of a food processor, pulse together flour, granulated sugar, confectioners’ sugar, and salt until combined. Add cold butter, pulsing until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add 2 tablespoons ice-cold water, and pulse until mixture comes together and a ball of dough forms.
- Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 2 equal portions, and shape into disks. Wrap each portion tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (If needed, add extra water 1 teaspoon at a time.)
- Working with one portion of dough at a time, place dough on a lightly floured surface. Using a roll- ing pin, roll out dough to a 1⁄4-inch thickness. Using a tartlet pan as a guide, cut 6 shapes from dough portion. Being careful not to stretch dough, place dough pieces on top of prepared pans. Lightly press dough into bottom of pans, trimming excess as needed. Using the blunt end of a chopstick, press dough into indentations of pans. Place tartlets on a rimmed baking sheet, and freeze for 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375°.
- Spray a large sheet of foil with cooking spray. Cut into small sheets a little larger than tartlet pans.
- Place each foil sheet into tartlet shells. Carefully fill prepared tartlet pans with ceramic pie weights or dried beans.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Carefully remove pie weights and foil. Using a fork, prick bottoms of tartlet shells. Bake until light golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes more. Let cool completely before carefully removing tartlet shells from pans.
- Place Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream in a pastry bag with the tip cut off. Pipe pastry cream into tartlet shells. Top with raspberries and blueberries.
- In a small saucepan, heat apricot preserves and 2 tablespoons water until hot. Strain through a fine- mesh sieve. Brush warm glaze onto fruit. Refrigerate tartlets until cold, approximately 2 hours. Serve cold.
Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream
Serves: 1¾ cups
Ingredients
- 4 large egg yolks
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 1 1⁄2 cups whole milk
- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
- In a medium saucepan, heat milk and vanilla bean seeds until very hot but not boiling. Gradually add hot milk mixture to egg mixture, whisking constantly. Add butter, stirring until combined. Pour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve. Return mixture to saucepan, and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens and just comes to a simmer. Pour into a heat- proof bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing wrap directly onto surface of pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold, approximately 4 hours.
