Berry Almond Tartlets With White Chocolate Food

FRESH BERRY & ALMOND TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, unroll pastry sheets. Roll dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut each with a floured 3-in. cookie cutter to make eight circles or other shapes. Transfer to ungreased baking sheets; prick holes in pastries with a fork., Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and almond extract until blended. Spread over cooled pastries. Top with berries, pressing lightly to adhere. Sprinkle with almonds and, if desired, confectioners' sugar. Refrigerate leftovers.

BERRY TARTLETS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/8-in. thickness. Using a 4-in. round cookie cutter, cut 12 circles, rerolling scraps as necessary. Press circles onto bottoms and up sides of ungreased muffin cups., Mix sugar and cornstarch; toss with berries and lemon juice. Spoon 2 tablespoons filling into each cup. Bake on a lower oven rack until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 24-26 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack; cool completely., For topping, beat cream until soft peaks form. In another bowl, mix lemon curd, sugar, vanilla and 1 tablespoon whipped cream; fold in remaining whipped cream. Spoon over filling. If desired, top with fresh berries. Refrigerate until serving.

WHITE CHOCOLATE CRANBERRY ALMOND TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. Place almonds and sugar in a food processor; pulse until almonds are ground. Add flour and salt; pulse until blended. Transfer mixture to a small bowl; stir in melted butter and cream. Press onto bottom and up sides of an ungreased 9-in. fluted tart pan with removable bottom., Bake 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven; sprinkle baking chips evenly over bottom. Cool on a wire rack., In a saucepan, combine filling ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered, 10-15 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Pour over baking chips., Bake 20-25 minutes or until filling is bubbly and crust is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate 2 hours or until cold. , In a microwave, melt baking chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Drizzle over tart. Sprinkle with almonds.

ROSE-SCENTED BERRY TART WITH AN ALMOND SHORTBREAD CRUST

Steps:

• For the crust, place 1/4 cup flour and the almonds in a food processor. Run until the almonds are finely ground, about 1 minute. Pulse in remaining one and a quarter cups flour, sugar, lemon zest and salt.
• Add the butter and pulse until a coarse meal forms. Add the egg and pulse until the dough comes together. Press dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and chill for 4 hours or up to a week.
• To make the pastry cream, pull the rose petals from the stem and drop into a heavy saucepan. Pour in milk and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand 1 hour. Strain and discard petals; pour liquid into pot and return to a simmer. (If you are using rosewater, skip the steeping; bring milk to a simmer and stir in the rosewater off the heat.)
• In a medium bowl, whisk flour and sugar. Slowly whisk in the hot milk. Return mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture just starts to boil, 1 to 2 minutes.
• In a large bowl, whisk yolks until pale and thick. Whisking constantly, pour the hot milk mixture into the yolks. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until custard is thick and smooth (170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer). Do not let the mixture boil. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Chill 1 hour before using or up to 5 days.
• When ready to bake the tart, roll the dough out between two sheets of plastic to a 3/8-inch thickness. Remove plastic and line a 9-inch tart pan with the dough; chill for 30 minutes.
• Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Line the tart shell with foil and fill with baking weights. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and weights. Continue baking, uncovered, for 5 to 10 more minutes, until pale golden. Allow tart shell to cool completely before filling.
• Spoon chilled pastry cream into cooled tart shell. Arrange berries over the top of the tart. Serve within 2 hours for the best texture.

CHOCOLATE BERRY TARTS

Steps:

• In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt 4 tablespoons butter; stir in cracker crumbs and sugar. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of two 4-in. fluted tart pans with removable bottoms. Freeze for 1 hour or until firm., In a small saucepan, combine the cream, cinnamon and remaining butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat; stir in chocolate chips until melted. Pour into crusts. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour., Just before serving, arrange berries over filling; sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.