TARTELETTES AUX FRUITS: French Fruits Tartlets

The colorful fruit tarts on the pastry shops always catch my heart, and I dream about making it. I love the freshness and fragrance of the fruit, when come with the soft and lightly sweet cream filling, how can you ask for more. But make a colorful tart that taste good as its look is not easy; the big problem for me is the tart shell. I want the one that’s not too hard to cut with a dessert fork but not too soft that the tart can’t hold its shape. Do you think I want too much from a little tart?

After a bit of trying I come up with this recipe from ..............

I love this Pâte Brisée recipe, it’s the answer for me, it’s soft but still holds it shape, and it’s easy to make and roll (and re-roll, haha). The filling is quite good too; it’s a mixing of Crème Pâtissière and Crème Chantilly, which stay soft and dreamy when eating. Remember that these tarts can’t be keep longer than 1 day so plan to serve them on the day you make. (Ps. You can make the tart shell one day before making the filling).

TARTELETTES AUX FRUITS: Fruits Tartlets

Makes about 8-12 pieces (7x2 cm tart tin)

Pâte Brisée
250g	Cake flour
150g	Butter (cold and cut into small dice)
2	Egg yolks
	A pinch of salt
40g	Icing sugar
1-3tbsp	Water
Crème Pâtissière
250cc	Milk
60g	Granulated sugar
3	Egg yolks
15g	Plain flour
10g	Cornstarch
	Seed from vanilla bean (from ½ of the bean)
10cc	Cointreau (orange liqueur)
Crème Chantilly
200 cc	Whipping cream
20g	Icing sugar
Apricot Glaze
50g	Apricot preserve
Fruit of your choices	I use strawberry, kiwi, orange, cherry and persimmon. You can use one type or mix to make your tart colorful.

Make the Pâte Brisée:

Sift the flour, icing sugar, and salt in the bowl.

Put the butter in the flour mixture and rub to form a little crumb.

Add the egg yolks and 1tbsp of water into the bowl, and mix by pushing (not kneading) until the ingredients start forming a ball (you can add more water if the dough seen dry).

Transfer the ball onto the work surface and knead it with the palm of your hand for a few seconds to obtain homogeneous dough. Do not overwork the dough. Wrap in plastic and put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Lightly butter the tart tins.

Roll the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap until it’s about 2 mm. thick.

Remove the top layer of plastic wrap from the dough, using fork stab all over the dough.

Using a 9cm pastry cutter cut discs out of the rolled out dough.

Place disc over the molds.

Using your fingers lightly floured or, preferably, a stuffing tool, press the dough inside each cavity, taking care not to tear the dough.

Wrap in plastic and put in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180º C

Line unbaked pastry shell with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Fill tart pan with pie weights, bake the tartlet shells in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, until golden. (If your tartlets are still pale after 20 minutes, remove the weights and put them back in the oven for 5 minutes more.)

Turn out the tartlets onto a cooling rack, remove weights. Let them cool down to room temperature.

Make the Crème Pâtissière:

Bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan.

Meanwhile whisk the egg yolk, sugar, seeds from vanilla bean, plain flour and cornstarch together in a bowl.

Whisk the boiling milk into this mixture and return the mixture into the saucepan.

Bring the mixture back to a boil and boil the cream for one minute whisking constantly to avoid scorching. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 - 60 seconds until it becomes very thick and it is hard to stir.

Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the liqueur. Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Cool.

Make the Crème Chantilly:

Pour the cream into a bowl and add the icing sugar. Using a balloon whisk or electric beaters, whip the cream until it just forms soft peaks.

Make the filling:

Fold the Crème Chantilly into the Crème Pâtissière, and spoon the filling into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle.

Make the Apricot Glaze:

Heat the apricot preserves in a small saucepan over medium heat until liquid. Remove from heat and strain the jam through a fine strainer to remove any fruit lumps.

Assemble:

Prepare the fruit by cutting into desire shape and place the fruit on paper towel to absorb moisture.

Brush the tartlets with apricot glaze (wait for the tart to dry a bit), and pipe the filling in.

Top the tartlets with fruits and brush the fruit with the apricot glaze.

Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.

TARTELETTES AUX FRUITS