Mini Fruit Tarts

 It has definitely been a hot minute since my last blog post, but life has been super busy! I’ve been promising this blog post to a bunch a people for a while, so apologies if you’re one of those people!

I feel like almost every party I attend now a days is a potluck. I don’t know about you, but I usually wait until the last minute to figure out what I’m bringing so I can see what everyone else is bringing and try to fill in the gaps. You know you’ve been to those potlucks where it’s hot dogs, hamburgers, and a table full of store bought dessert (^_^). 

If it’s not an Evite or Facebook invite, I’ll usually ask the host/hostess what they’d like me to bring. It takes some stress off of them (if they’re like me and try to fill in all the gaps themselves) and it helps you narrow down which of your tried and true recipes you want to bring along (or maybe a new recipe you saw somewhere  like this one *wink* and needed a reason to make it (^_^)). SO, in the case where they ask you to bring a dessert or if you want something classy/fancy/colorful to showcase at your own party, I am sharing the most recent dessert I’ve been bringing year round and that everyone has been LOVING. Fruit Tarts. AND THEY’RE MINI!!! I love mini desserts for parties because it’s easy to portion out for folks (no one ever wants to be the first person to cut the cake/pie!) and it makes it feel a little fancier. These fruit tarts are nice because they’re not super sweet, not super heavy, they have different flavor profiles and textures, and they’re TOTALLY customizable. If you don’t want to make a pastry cream or a pudding from scratch you can use a box or the pre-made stuff. You don’t like pudding? Use whipped cream. You don’t like fruit? Top them with chocolate (^_^). The possibilities are endless! Ok maybe not endless, but there are many (^_^). 

This recipe is a combination of these recipes from I Heart Naptime and Grace’s Sweet Life. I used the Cookie Cups from I Heart Naptime and the Pastry Cream from Grace’s Sweet Life. If you want a thicker and heavier pastry cream, go ahead and try the recipe from I Heart Naptime. If you want, you could probably just mix in some whipped cream into that recipe to achieve your desire of texture (^_^).

What You’ll Need:

For the Cookie Cups

• 1¼ Cups of All Purpose Flour
• ⅓ Cup of Powdered Sugar
• ¼ TSP of Salt
• ½ Cup of Cold Butter, cut into cubes
• 1 TBSP of Ice Cold Water

For the Pastry Cream

• 1 Cup of Whole Milk
• 1 TSP of Vanilla Extract
• 5 TBSP of Granulated Sugar
• 3 Large Egg Yolks at Room Temperature
• 1 TBSP of Cornstarch
• 1 TBSP of All Purpose Flour
• ½ Cup of Heavy Cream
• ½ TBSP of Powdered Sugar

Toppings

• Fresh Strawberries
• Fresh Blueberries
• Fresh Raspberries
• Mini Chocolate Candies (the ones pictured are the Ghiradelli with Caramel filling)

Step 1: Make the Pastry Cream

 

 

In a small saucepan bring the milk, vanilla extract, and 4 TBSP of sugar to a boil while stirring over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. 

 

 

While you’re waiting for the milk mixture to come to a boil, in a medium sized bowl, whisk the egg yolks and 1 TBSP of sugar until the yolks become pale.

Sift the cornstarch and flour into the egg yolk mixture and whisk until combined. 

          

Whisk a little of the milk mixture into the egg/flour mixture to temper the eggs, then pour and whisk the egg yolk/flour mixture into the milk mixture. Continue whisking until the mixture has thickened (only a couple minutes). Remove from heat and transfer into another bowl. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap so that the plastic is touching the top of the pastry cream in the bowl so that a skin does not develop while it cools. Put it in the fridge until cool.

The Lingo: Tempering is a technique where the temperature of a cold/room-temperature ingredient is slowly raised by adding small amounts of hot liquid. The hot liquid is mixed in gradually to prevent the cool ingredient from cooking more. In this case, we’re preventing the eggs from curdling.

Beat the heavy cream and powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Gently fold one third of the whipped cream into the cooled pastry cream mixture. Fold the remaining whipped cream in two batches. Put in the fridge to cool.

          

          

Step 2: Make the Cookie Cups

Preheat the oven to 375°. In a food processor, pulse the flour, powdered sugar, and salt until mixed. Add the cold butter (emphasis on cold) and pulse until it looks like cornmeal. 

          

Add 1TBSP of ice cold water and pulse until the dough begins to clumping together. If needed, add more ice water one teaspoon at a time if the dough is too dry. (*Note: you can also do this with a pastry cutter, but that requires a little extra elbow grease (^_^).)

Lightly spray a mini cupcake pan with cooking spray or nonstick spray. Scoop around a tablespoon of dough into each “cup” and press the dough onto the bottoms and up the sides. Bake until golden brown (around fifteen minutes). Remove from the oven and once the pans have cooled for a few minutes, use a knife or toothpick to help you remove the cookie cups. 

Note: I like my cups a little thinner and taller than the original recipe (for better cream to cookie ratio) so I push them up the entire sides, it also makes it easier to remove. 

Step 3: Let’s Put It All Together!

Once the cookie cups have cooled, pipe or spoon a dollop of the pastry cream into each cup. Top with whatever topping your heart desires! Enjoy them now or keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to serve!