Tartelettes Aux Fruits Recipes

TARTELETTES AUX FRUITS

Steps:

• FOR THE FILLING: Apricots, peaches, plums, kiwifruit, or gooseberries need to be poached lightly in a sugary syrup.
• Raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and redcurrants can be used fresh.
• GLACE for the fruit: Heat apricot jam, for red fruits use redcurrant jelly with a few drops of lemon juice, when dissolved put through a sieve.
• Sift the flour and salt onto a board.
• Make a well in the centre and add all the ingredients.
• With your fingertips, mix together quickly and knead until smooth.
• Wrap with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
• Roll the pastry out and place in greased tartlet tins.
• Chill again.
• Bake blind for 7 minutes.
• Then bake a further 5 minutes until a pale biscuit colour.
• Cool on wire rack.
• Glace the base of the pastry with some of the glace, then place the fruit into the tartlets and glace all over.
• TIP: The tartlets WITHOUT the filling can be baked in advance and stored in an air-tight container for a few days!

TARTELETTES AU CITRON (INDIVIDUAL LEMON TARTS)

Steps:

• Prepare the pastry shells. On a lightly floured surface, carefully roll out the dough to a thickness of one-eighth inch. Fit the pastry into six to eight four-inch tart tins. With your fingertips, carefully press the pastry into the pan and up the side, trying not to stretch it. Trim the overhang, leaving about a half-inch edge. Tuck this overhang inside the pan, pressing gently against the side to create a sturdy, double-sided shell. If you build the pastry a bit higher than the height of the pan, you have less problem with shrinkage. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Line the shells carefully with heavy-duty foil, pressing well into the edges so the pastry does not shrink while baking. Tuck the foil into the bottom of the tart shells. Prick the pastry through the foil with the tines of a fork. Fill with weights of rice or beans - making sure you get all the way into the edges - to prevent shrinkage.
• Place the filled tins on a baking sheet and bake just until the pastry begins to brown around the edges and seems firm enough to stand up by itself, about 15 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and weights and continue baking until evenly light brown, about 10 to 15 more minutes. Watch the pastry carefully, for ovens vary and pastry can brown very quickly. Cool completely, for at least 15 minutes, before filling.
• Prepare the filling. In a large mixing bowl, combine the lemon juice, sugar and cream and whisk until well blended. Add the eggs, one by one, mixing well after each addition. Strain the lemon cream through a sieve to remove any portions of yolk or impurities.
• Pour the lemon cream into the prepared tartlet shells, place them on a baking sheet and bake just until the lemon cream is firm in the center, about five more minutes. (Alternatively, to form a single large tart, the dough can be rolled into a 12-inch circle to fit a 10 1/2-inch tart shell. Continue as directed for the individual tarts, but increase baking time by 5 to 10 minutes.)