Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Fruit Tartlets

I made some fruit tartlets today for my husband to share with his colleagues as it is his last day of internship. I am really pleased with the results, considering that this is my first time making them. 

The tart shells and pastry cream were made yesterday and the assembling (filling with cream and fruit toppings) were done this morning. I love this type of recipe where the preparation can be done over several days, thus making it less stressful and tiring for the baker!

To prevent the shell from turning soggy too quickly, I lined the inner bottom and sides of the crust with a thin layer of melted chocolate. They were then left to dry for a couple of minutes in the fridge before filling up with the pastry cream. 

Fruit tarts are best consumed within the day once they are assembled. 





Recipe 
(for the shell - makes about 8)
125g All-purpose flour
75g sugar
60g unsalted butter, bring to room temperature
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
a pinch of salt

Directions
1. Beat butter and sugar in a mixing bowl till light and fluffy. 
2. Add in vanilla essence, egg yolk and salt. Mix well. 
3. Sift flour into the above mixture and incorporate well. 
4. Form into a ball and refrigerate for 30mins. 
5. Pre-heat oven to 180 deg Celcius. 
5. Roll out the dough into desired thickness and shape into tart tins. Refrigerate again for 10mins. 
6. Prick the bottom of the tart shells with a fork (to minimize bottom from bulging during baking process). Bake for 15mins or until shells turn a light golden brown. 
7. When done, let it cool in the tin for 15 mins then remove and continue cooling on wire rack. Store in airtight container till ready to use. 


(for the pastry cream - recipe adapted from thelittleteochew)
2 egg yolks
55g sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla essence
2 tbsp cornflour
1/2 tsp unsalted butter
a pinch of salt

Directions
1. Whisk together egg yolks, 1/4 cup milk (60ml), sugar and vanilla beans. Mix in cornflour and salt (if using).
2. Bring the remaining milk to a scald* in a saucepan. Pour the hot milk in small stream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly with a balloon whisk as you pour (very important). Once incorporated, pour everything back into the saucepan.
* To scald is to heat to just below the boiling point.
3. Whisk the mixture over medium heat until it thickens and firms up. Remove from heat and whisk in butter.
4. Pour the hot custard into a bowl and plunge the bottom of the bowl into another larger bowl of iced-water to cool, give it a whisk occasionally. 

5. Once it reaches room temperature, scoop the crème pâtissière into a piping bag (twist the open end to seal up the custard) or into a ketchup bottle. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.

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