Two months ago Williams-Sonoma had a 15% off sale on bakeware so my mother and I purchased a Tartlet Baking Set with the idea that we could make tarts for our Daughters of the American Revolution meetings & activities. So the baking of tartlets commenced!!!
I used a basic tart dough recipe from Williams-Sonoma and found a basic custard recipe online. The tart came out suuuuper buttery tasting and the custard was not too sweet. The custard complimented the natural sweetness of the fruits I selected, which were limited by Ralph's seasonal selection and my wallet.
Fruit Tartlets
Makes ~28 tartlets
Ingredients:
Fresh fruit
Lemon juice (to prevent fruit from browning)
For the dough:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
10 Tbs. or 1 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten with 1 Tbs. water
For the custard:
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 cup milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions:
In a food processor, process the flour, sugar, and salt by pulsing once. Add the butter and process for 20-25 seconds in short pulses until small crumbs form. While pulsing, add and process for 10-15 seconds, the egg yolk and water mixture until large, moist crumbs form.
Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface, shape the dough into a ball, and divide it in half. Shape each half into a 5" round, flat disk on plastic wrap. Cover the exposed side with more plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and flour until thick and pale. Heat the milk in a saucepan until almost boiling then remove from heat. Slowly drizzle the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking continuously, until all of the milk has been added. Return the custard to a pot and cook over medium-low heat until custard has thickened and coats the back of a spoon, approximately 5-7 minutes. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of custard to prevent a "skin" from forming and allow to cool completely. Refrigerate once cool. Custard can be made ahead of time or while the dough is "maturing."
Position a rack in the center of an oven and preheat to 400ºF. Working with one disk of dough at a time, roll the disk to 1/4" thickness. Use the tartlet dough cutter to cut 12 rounds out. Place each round into the tartlet pan and use the tartlet press to evenly spread the dough into the pan's fluted crevices. Bake until the tart shells are evenly golden and crisp, 10 to 14 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the tart shells from the pan and cool to room temperature.
