American Flag Tart Recipes

AMERICAN FLAG FRUIT TART

Steps:

• To make crust,put the flour, powdered sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine.
• Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles cornmeal with some pea sized chunks.
• Whisk the egg yolk, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. Continue pulsing with long 10 second pulses until the mixture comes together.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently knead until any extra flour is incorporated.
• Press the dough into an 11-inch greased tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Top with a piece of non-stick foil or buttered foil and press it onto the surface.
• Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.
• When crust is cooled, make filling by placing all filling ingredients in a bowl and beat until the mixture is smooth. Scrape into the tart shell and smooth top with an offset spatula.
• To decorate, select the biggest blueberries and cut strawberries in half, removing the stems and hulls. Set aside.
• Whip cream with powdered sugar and pipe some rows of cream across the surface leaving enough space between for rows of strawberries. Leave one corner free of whipped cream for the blueberries.
• Add strawberry halves, cut side down, in rows, then fill the open area with rows of blueberries.
• Keep chilled until you serve.

AMERICAN FLAG TART

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface, roll out a disc of pate sucree 1/8 inch thick to fit a 3 3/4-by-13 1/4-inch fluted, rectangular tart pan with a removable bottom. Brush off excess flour with a dry pastry brush. Carefully transfer dough to tart pan, tuck dough into the edges, gently pressing along sides, and allow excess dough to overhang the edges. Trim the dough by running your rolling pin over the dough against the edges. Gently shape the edges by pressing the length of your forefinger against each flute along the sides. Prick all over the bottom with the tines of a fork. Repeat with remaining disc of dough. Transfer to the refrigerator, and chill for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove chilled tart shells from refrigerator, and line each with a piece of parchment paper that overhangs the edges by at least 2 inches. Fill parchment with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until just starting to color, about 20 minutes. Remove parchment and weights from tart shells, and return tart shells to oven. Continue baking until tart bottom is golden, about 20 minutes more. Transfer tart shells to a cooling rack, and allow to cool completely. Carefully remove tart shells from pan.
• In a small bowl in the microwave or set over a pan of simmering water, heat chocolate until it is just melted, about 1 1/2 minutes; stir until smooth. Using the back of a spoon, line each tart shell with chocolate. Refrigerate to set, at least 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat apricot and raspberry jams in two separate saucepans with about 1 tablespoon water in each; strain into separate small bowls.
• Make top tart: Remove one lined tart shell from refrigerator and spread 1/3 of the creme fraiche filling over the bottom. Arrange 3 rows of unglazed raspberries 2/3 the length of the tart, leaving space between each row and at the top and bottom edges for 4 more rows. Dust with confectioners' sugar until raspberries are completely coated. Toss blueberries in a bowl with strained apricot jam. Fill left third of tart shell with a layer of glazed blueberries arranged snugly in rows; top with another layer of blueberries. Toss half the remaining raspberries with the strained raspberry jam, and carefully fill empty rows with some of the glazed raspberries, rinsing your hands as needed.
• Make bottom tart: Remove remaining tart shell from refrigerator, and spread a third of the creme fraiche filling over the bottom. Arrange 3 rows of remaining unglazed raspberries, starting at the top edge and leaving space between each and at the bottom edge for 4 more rows. Dust with confectioners' sugar until raspberries are completely coated. Fill empty rows with remaining glazed raspberries.
• Arrange tarts on a large board or tray to resemble the flag, and serve with remaining creme fraiche filling on the side. Finished tarts will hold at room temperature for several hours.

FRUIT-TART FLAG

Steps:

• Fill premade miniature tart shells or phyllo cups with sweet mascarpone cream (recipe below), then arrange on a tray and top with blueberries and halved strawberry slices to create stars and stripes.
• Mascarpone Cream:
• Beat an 8-ounce container of mascarpone cheese and 3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar with a mixer until smooth. Gently fold in 1/2 cup freshly whipped cream.

AMERICAN FLAG CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and line 4 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
• Combine white cake mix, egg whites, vegetable oil, milk, and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl. Beat for 30 seconds using an electric mixer on low speed. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for 2 more minutes. The batter will still be slightly lumpy.
• To make the red cakes, measure half the batter into a separate bowl and whisk in red food coloring. Evenly transfer the red batter into 2 of the 8-inch prepared cake pans; smooth tops of batter with a spatula. Transfer half of the remaining uncolored batter into a 3rd prepared cake pan; smooth top as before. This will be the white cake portion.
• Add blue food coloring to the remaining uncolored batter in the large mixing bowl; fold 1 cup white chocolate chips into blue batter until combined. Transfer batter to remaining prepared 8-inch cake pan; smooth top of batter with a spatula.
• Bake all 4 cakes in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Remove the cakes from oven and place onto cooling racks until cooled completely.
• Run a knife around edge of each cooled cake. Invert cakes, remove pans, and peel off parchment paper. Use a sharp knife to trim tops of cakes flat and even.
• Cut both of the red cake layers and the white cake layer in half horizontally. You will have 4 thin red cake layers and 2 thin white cake layers.
• Place a 4-inch round stencil on top of 1 thin red cake layer; cut out a 4-inch red cake round. Repeat, placing stencil on 1 thin white cake layer to make 1 4-inch white cake round. Center the 4-inch round stencil on the blue cake; cut out and remove center portion covered by the stencil to make a blue cake ring.
• To assemble the cake, you will need 2 thin 8-inch red cake layers, 1 thin 8-inch white cake layer, 1 4-inch thin red cake circle, 1 4-inch thin white cake circle, and 1 blue 8-inch cake ring. Reserve the leftover thin red cake layer and other cake pieces for making crumbs for decorating.
• To assemble cake, place 1 8-inch thin red cake layer on a cake pan and frost the top generously with white frosting. Place the thin 8-inch white cake layer on top of the red one, and frost the top. Place remaining 8-inch thin red cake layer atop the white one. Frost the red layer.
• Place the blue ring cake on top of the 2nd red cake layer and carefully frost the inside of the blue cake ring. Gently fit the 4-inch white cake layer into the blue cake ring. Frost the top of the 4-inch white center. Place the 4-inch red cake layer on top of the white one. Gently press small cake circles flush with the top of the blue ring.
• Frost the entire outside of the cake generously with the remaining frosting.
• Crumble red and blue pieces of leftover cake into 2 separate bowls. Score lines into the top of the cake's frosting with a kitchen knife to make a flag design on top of the cake. It should have a 2-inch square at the upper left for blue field and white stars, and 7 thick horizontal stripes about 1 inch wide.
• Fill the square field at the upper left with blue crumbs and press 1 tablespoon white chocolate chips upside-down into the blue crumbs to make 'stars.' Fill the bottom stripe and every other stripe with red crumbs to make red stripes. Sprinkle white sugar generously into the white stripes to make them stand out.
• To serve, cut cake into wedges. The inside of the cake will reveal its layers of red and white stripes and blue field with white chocolate chip stars in every slice.

CREME FRAICHE FILLING FOR AMERICAN FLAG TART

Steps:

• Put cream cheese into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until smooth. Set aside. Whisk creme fraiche in another medium bowl until the whisk begins to leave lines, about 1 minute. Whisk 1/3 of creme fraiche into cream cheese. Add remaining creme fraiche, beating until smooth and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Sift confectioners' sugar over top, and fold to combine. Stir in vanilla. Refrigerate at least 1 hour (up to 5 hours).

ALL-AMERICAN FLAG CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13-inch baking pan.
• Stir yellow cake mix, 1 cup water, vegetable oil, and eggs in a mixing bowl until moistened; beat with a mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour batter into prepared baking pan.
• Bake cake in the preheated oven until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Poke holes about 1 inch apart all over the cake with a fork.
• Dissolve strawberry gelatin in boiling water in a bowl and pour gelatin slowly over the cake, letting gelatin seep into holes. Refrigerate cake until gelatin sets, about 1 hour. Transfer cake to a serving platter and cut in half horizontally.
• Mix instant vanilla pudding mix with milk in a bowl and whisk until thickened, about 2 minutes; stir in 1/2 cup blueberries. Spread blueberry filling onto bottom of cake and place top of cake over the filling. Spread 2 cups whipped topping smoothly over top and sides of cake and arrange 1/2 cup blueberries in a square in the upper left corner of the cake for stars. Arrange alternating layers of strawberries and miniature marshmallows into horizontal red and white stripes.

APPLE "FLAG" TART

Steps:

• Make pastry dough:
• In a bowl stir together flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. With a pastry blender or fingertips blend in butter, blending until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cold water to mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing to incorporate until mixture forms a dough. On a work surface smear dough in several forward motions with heel of hand to develop gluten in flour and make dough easier to work with. Scrape dough together and pat into an 8- by 6-inch rectangle. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, 30 minutes.
• Reserve 1 apple for making stars. Peel, quarter, and core remaining 4 apples and cut lengthwise into scant-1/4-inch slices.
• For stars, stand reserved apple on its stem end and starting from the outside, cut scant-1/4-inch vertical slices, rotating apple to cut more slices as you reach the core. With a 1 1/4-inch star-shaped cutter, cut out as many whole stars as possible from slices and then cut partial stars from scraps.
• In a food processor pulse fresh or frozen cranberries with 3/4 cup sugar until chopped fine.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• On a lightly floured surface roll dough into 1 17-by 14-inch rectangle and transfer to a large baking sheet. Hand-roll the edges 1 inch toward center to make a raised border and spread cranberry mixture inside. Arrange apple slices lengthwise, overlapping them, in close horizontal rows (apples will shrink slightly during baking) to resemble stripes on an American flag, leaving a space in the upper-left corner for stars. Arrange partial stars in corner and top with whole stars. Brush pastry edge with water and sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup sugar over entire tart.
• Bake tart 50 minutes, or until apples are tender and pastry is golden brown. Cool tart on baking sheet on a rack.
• Make glaze:
• In a small saucepan melt jellies over moderate heat, stirring frequently until smooth.
• Brush hot glaze over warm tart. Serve tart warm or at room temperature.