Happy Fourth of July! May your day be filled with much friends, family, and fireworks.
If you are headed to a barbecue or potluck and need something festive to bring, these tartelettes will fit the bill. Not only are they holiday appropriate, they are also a light dessert (which is a good thing if you need to sample a little bit of everything like I do). The fruit filling is vibrant, full, and just sweet enough to make your taste buds tingle. Though, I must warn you, it may be difficult to eat just one.
These tarts also represent a personal aspiration of my own——my first paid baking gig. What a joy it is to get paid for doing what you love! I do hope this will not be my last.
Blueberry and Raspberry Mini Tartelettes
Yields 44 tartelettes
Tart Crust
Adapted from Kitchen Travels
2 1/2 cups flour
3 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) butter, cut into small cubes
3 eggs
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, corn starch, sugar, and salt. Add small cubed butter. Using a pastry blender, blend the butter into the flour mixture until it has the appearance and texture of sand.
Add small amounts of water until the dough sticks together when pinched between your fingers.
In a mini muffin tan, add approximately a tablespoon of dough and press into mold. Using a tart tamper or inverted bottle, press down in the center of the dough to form the tart crust. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, or freeze for 10 minutes, before baking.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake tarts for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and move to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Tart Filling
2 cups blueberries
1 tablespoon water
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
3 eggs, lightly beaten
In a medium saucepan, simmer blueberries and water on medium heat for 10 minutes to soften the blueberries and release the juices. Using a fine grain sieve, drain blueberries and press mixture through sieve. Discard solids. Return juice to saucepan and add sugar, butter, and eggs. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. You may need to strain mixture again if the egg curdles. Remove from heat and keep cool in the refrigerator.
To make a raspberry filling, simply substitute raspberries for blueberries. If the color is not vibrant enough for your taste, add a few drops of red food coloring.
To assemble the tartelettes, fill each tart crust with approximately a teaspoon of filling. Top with the respective fresh fruit. For best quality, keep refrigerated. This will keep the filling solidified and the fresh fruit, well, fresh!
Any leftover filling can be used as a topping for ice cream, frozen yogurt, or sorbets (which, let me tell you, tastes absolutely fantastic). I love a good dual purpose dessert.
