Note: requires tartlet tins and baking beads.
Note: the pastry cases can be made probably a week in advance
(kept at room temperature in something like a biscuit tin to
keep the moisture out) and the crème pâtissière can
be made a few days in advance (kept in the fridge).
Makes: 6 to 8 tartlets, depending on your pastry-rolling fu.
Ingredients
- the pastry ingredients from the Bakewell tart recipe.
- the ingredients from the crème pâtissière recipe,
enough for half a litre.
- fruit of your choice: e.g. strawberries (halved), seedless
grapes (halved), blueberries (whole), plums (decimated?);
sweeter fruit is better.
- 4 tbsp clear jam or jelly (e.g. apricot or quince) for glazing
plus 2 tbsp water.
Make the pastry dough according to the Bakewell tart recipe, trying
not to handle it too much once it is formed.
Preheat the oven to 200 C.
Grease the tartlet tin(s).
Roll the pastry to 1 mm thick, as thin as you can, nearly
see-through, then use something like a standard dessert dish
to cut out a circle; if the pastry is too thick you will need
to return it to the oven to cook for a bit longer when you get
to step 11.
Place the circle of pastry into a tartlet tin, pressing it
into the corners and trimming the lip/edge to leave 1 cm
outside the tin (the pastry will shrink during baking, this is
your margin).
Repeat from 5 until you have used all of the pastry.
Cut squares of baking parchment to more than the size of
each tartlet and place the paper in each tartlet case, topped
with baking beads, to hold the pastry down.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove the tin(s) from the oven, lift out the baking
parchment and save away the baking beads.
Check each tartlet case: if the base looks kinda
soft/doughy still, return it to the oven for 5 minutes to
finish: see pictures above for a done one and a not-done one.
Pull out the tartlet cases from the tin and onto a cooling
rack; leave to cool.
Dollop the crème pâtissière into each tartlet
case and smooth it down with the back of a spoon.
Add your chosen fruit, not chopped too finely: have
fun with the layouts.
Commercial fruit tarts are always glazed: it keeps the
fruit fresh and makes the tarts look shiny. To glaze,
melt the clear jam or jelly in a pan, with the water to make
it workable, then daub it liberally over the top of each
tartlet with a pastry brush, making sure to cover well and
quickly (the liquid will set again rapidly).