Crème Brûlée Tartlets Food

CRèME BRûLéE TART

Steps:

• Make tart shell:
• Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl (or pulse in a food processor). Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse) until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size lumps of butter. Add 3 tablespoons water and stir into flour (or pulse) until incorporated.
• Gently squeeze a small handful of dough: If it doesn't hold together, add water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) after each addition. Do not overwork dough or pastry will be tough.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough into a ball, then flatten into a 5-inch disk. Chill dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round. Fit dough into tart pan and fold overhang inward to reinforce side. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Lightly prick bottom of shell all over with a fork, then line with parchment or foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until edge is pale golden and side is set, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Carefully remove weights and parchment and bake shell until golden, 10 to 15 minutes more.
• Remove tart shell from oven and reduce temperature to 300°F.
• Make filling:
• While shell bakes, split vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape seeds into a heavy medium saucepan with tip of a paring knife. Add pod to saucepan with cream and milk. Heat over medium heat until hot, then let steep off heat 30 minutes.
• Whisk together yolks, whole egg, 6 tablespoons sugar, and salt in a quart measuring cup, then whisk into cream mixture until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve back into measuring cup.
• Put tart shell (in pan) in a 4-sided sheet pan. Put in oven, then pour custard into shell. Bake until just set but still slightly wobbly in center, 30 to 35 minutes (custard will continue to set as it cools). Remove tart from sheet pan and cool on a rack 30 minutes. Remove side of pan and cool to room temperature, about 1 hour more.
• Just before serving, sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar evenly over top of tart. Move blowtorch flame evenly back and forth just above top of tart, avoiding crust, until sugar is caramelized and slightly browned. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

CRèME BRûLéE TARTLETS

Steps:

• Put the flour, a pinch of salt and the butter in a food processor and pulse until it resembles fine crumbs. Add the sugar and orange zest, and briefly pulse again. Pour in 2 tbsp of the egg mixture and pulse until the dough comes together, adding more liquid if needed.
• Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line four deep-fluted tartlet tins (8 x 3cm). Place the tins on a tray and chill for 30 mins. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Line each pastry case with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Bake for 10-15 mins, until the sides are set. Remove the parchment and beans and cook for 5-10 mins. Leave to cool. Can be made up to 1 day ahead at this stage and be stored in an airtight container. Lower the oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2.
• Pour the cream into a heavy-based saucepan, scrape in the seeds from the vanilla pod, then throw in the 2 halves of the pod. Heat until small bubbles begin to form around the sides of the pan, then leave to infuse for 5 mins. Remove the pod. In a bowl, beat together the egg yolks, whole egg and sugar. Keep stirring, then pour in the cream, mixing until combined. Strain through a sieve into a jug. Pour the custard into the tart shells, then bake for 18-22 mins until almost set (they should be quite wobbly in the centre but will firm up on cooling). Leave to cool completely, then chill for 30 mins.
• Meanwhile, make the caramel topping. Grease a lipped metal baking tray with a little oil. Tip the caster sugar into a frying pan with 3 tbsp water and heat gently until the sugar starts to melt. Don't be tempted to stir the sugar, as this can encourage the caramel to crystalise. However, you can tilt the pan to move it around. Once the sugar is almost melted, turn up the heat and bubble the caramel to a deep golden-brown colour. Quickly tip onto the greased tray and leave to cool completely. Once cool, turn the tray upside down and tap to release the caramel. Break into pieces, then whizz in a food processor until you have fine crystals.
• Heat the grill. Scatter a thick layer of caramel crystals over the surface of each tart, and pop a collar of foil around the top edge of the pastry. Place under the grill, not too near the heat source, and let the caramel melt - watch carefully as they will burn easily. Leave to cool, then chill for 30 mins or until ready to serve.

TURBINADO CREME BRULEE TART

Steps:

• For the crust: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Place the graham crackers, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the crumbs are very fine, about 1 minute. Dump the crumbs into a medium bowl, then dust out the bowl of the food processor with a paper towel, and place the bowl and blade back on the machine.
• In a small heatproof bowl, combine the butter, 2 teaspoons water and the vanilla extract. Heat in the microwave on high power until the butter melts, about 45 seconds. Stir to blend, and then pour into the crumbs. Use a fork to toss the mixture until its evenly moistened; when you grab a fistful of crumbs and squeeze, it should hold together like damp sand (if not, add a bit more water, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until you get there). Turn the crust mixture into the tart pan, and pat into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Use a flat-bottomed measuring cup to press the crust firmly into place. Bake until lightly golden, fragrant and firm, about 8 minutes. Cool on a wire rack while you prepare the filling.
• For the filling: Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees F. In the bowl of the food processor, grind 6 tablespoons of the sugar until noticeably finer, about 1 minute (you'll notice a bit of sweet smoke rising up into the air from the processor-this is the sign that the sugar is breaking down). Add the yogurt, vanilla extract, orange zest, salt, eggs and cream cheese. Blend until perfectly smooth. Pour the filling into the prepared crust.
• Bake until the filling is set at the edges but still quite wobbly towards the center, about 30 minutes.
• Cool the tart on a wire rack for about 15 minutes. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill uncovered until very firm, at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
• Remove the ring from the tart pan and place the tart on a heatproof serving platter. Sprinkle the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar over the surface of the tart and smooth it out evenly, covering the entire surface. Use a kitchen torch to melt and caramelize the sugar, scorching a bit in spots. Let the sugar harden for a few minutes, then cut and serve.

CREME BRULEE TART

Steps:

• Roll the puff pastry 1/4-inch thick and pierce it all over with the tines of a fork. Line a flan ring with the pastry and chill the ring for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line the flan ring with parchment paper or coffee filters and fill the shell with pie weights. Bake the pastry shell for about 25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown. Remove the shell from the oven and let cool to room temperature. Remove the pie weights.
• Distribute the fruit evenly over the bottom of the shell, then pour in the Creme Brulee. Smooth the top with a long-bladed spatula.
• Just before serving, heat a caramel iron on the burner of a stove. Sprinkle the sugar evenly over the top and carefully caramelize the sugar with the hot iron. Alternately, place the tart under a hot broiler, near the heat, for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the sugar caramelizes. Or use a small blow torch to caramelize the sugar.
• In a large metal bowl set over a bain marie, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until the mixture is light and thick enough to form a ribbon. This takes quite a long time; be strong and patient. Remove from the heat.
• Carefully whisk in the cream. Add the vanilla bean. Place the bowl back over the bain marie and cook slowly for about 45 minutes, stirring frequently. Take care that the water does not boil. The custard will be done when the mixture adheres to your fingers without dripping.
• When the custard is done, remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, a little at a time, until all of it has been incorporated. Strain through a fine strainer into a bowl. Chill at least 6 hours or overnight.

APRICOT CRèME BRûLéE TART

Steps:

• For the pastry, beat the butter and sugar together until pale, mix in flour and almonds then stir in the egg until the pastry just comes together. Shape into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 mins.
• While the pastry is chilling, make the filling. Tip the apricots into a bowl. Bring the wine and the sugar to a rolling boil, then pour over the apricots and leave to steep in the liquid. In the same saucepan (there's no need to wash it) bring the vanilla and cream to the boil. Turn off the heat and leave the cream to infuse.
• Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Roll the pastry to fit a 23cm fluted tart tin and leave it to chill in the freezer for 10 mins. Line the tart case with foil or greaseproof paper and fill the tart with baking beans. Bake the tart for 20 mins until the edges become biscuity, then remove the beans and foil or greaseproof paper and cook for a few more mins until the base starts to brown. Remove the tart from the oven and lower the heat to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3.
• While the tart case is cooking, whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Strain the vanilla cream over the eggs and whisk, then drain the apricots and mix the liquid in with the vanilla cream and the eggs to make a custard. Pull the apricots apart and press them sticky side down into the tart case. Pour the custard over the apricots and bake for about 20-30 mins until the filling is just set. Remove the tart from the oven and leave to cool. To serve, scatter the remaining sugar over the tart and blast with a blowtorch to caramelise it, leave it to harden for a minute and cut into slices and serve. As there are so many lovely flavours in the tart already it needs no accompaniment

LEMON CRèME BRULEE TART

Steps:

• Crust Method:.
• Combine flour, sugar, and salt in processor, blend for 10 seconds. Pulse in butter until combined. Pulse while adding the heavy cream 1 teaspoon at a time, until moist dough clumps form. Remove dough from processor and form into a flatten disk. Wrap and chill for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350°F Roll out dough on a floured surface to fit a 12-inch tart pan. Press dough to fit pan using excess dough for the sides. Poke crust with fork to keep crust from rising. Bake crust until golden brown, approximately 16 minutes. Remove crust from oven and brush the inside immediately with egg white. Reserve.
• Filling Method:.
• Whisk ¾ cup sugar, cream, yolks, and eggs in bowl to blend well. Mix in lemon juice and lemon zest. Pour filling into warm crust. Bake until filling is set in center, approximately 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.
• Cover edge of crust with foil to prevent from burning. Sprinkle remaining sugar on top of tart. Using a brulee torch, melt sugar until caramelized. Allow topping to crisp before serving. Serve with fresh berries and crème fraiche, if desired.

ORANGE-ALMOND CREME BRULEE TARTLETS

Steps:

• Make the crusts: Pulse flour, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds. Whisk together egg, yolk, and water. With machine running, quickly add egg mixture. Pulse until mixture just begins to hold together. Press dough into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Set six 4-inch tart rings on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Roll out dough to a 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut out six 6-inch circles, rerolling scraps as needed. Press dough into bottoms and up sides of tart rings, patching any holes or tears, leaving an overhang at the top of each. Prick bottoms of tart shells all over with a fork, and freeze until firm, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Trim excess dough flush with edges of rings using a knife.
• Bake, pressing down dough if puffing, until lightly golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
• Make orange caramelized almonds: Remove zest from orange in strips using a vegetable peeler; reserve for filling. Cut away pith; slice fruit along membranes to release segments into a bowl. Squeeze juice from membranes into bowl; discard. Reserve half the segments for another use; coarsely chop remaining segments.
• Heat sugar and water in a saucepan over high heat, stirring constantly, until sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, washing down sides of pan. Cook, swirling often, until sugar is pale amber and starts to caramelize. Add almonds, and stir to toast. Cook until medium to dark amber in color. Add orange and juice and a pinch of salt. Remove from heat, and stir until smooth.
• Make the filling: Bring cream and reserved orange zest to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat; cover, and let stand for 2 hours. Spread 1 tablespoon orange caramelized almonds in a flat, even layer onto bottom of each tart shell (you will have more almonds than needed to cover the tart shell bottoms; reserve remaining almonds for another use). Freeze tart shells until caramel is firm, about 20 minutes.
• Bring cream to just under a boil. Meanwhile, whisk together yolks, sugar, and a pinch of salt. Slowly whisk cream into egg mixture. Strain through a fine sieve; discard zest.
• Divide cream mixture evenly among tart shells, filling each to the top. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until just set, about 20 minutes. Let cool, then refrigerate for 1 hour to set.
• Sprinkle tops with sugar. Hold a small handheld kitchen torch at a 90-degree angle 3 to 4 inches from surface of each tart, and move flame back and forth until sugar is caramelized and deep golden brown, or broil until sugar is caramelized. Serve immediately.

PEAR CRèME BRûLéE TART

Steps:

• preheat oven to 400.
• To prepare pastry, place first 3 ingredients in a food processor; pulse to combine. Add butter; pulse 10 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. With processor on, slowly add 2 tablespoons ice water through food chute, processing just until dough starts to come together. Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap; press into a disk. Cover and chill 10 minutes in the freezer. Place dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap; roll dough into a 10-inch circle. Fit dough into a 9-inch round removable-bottom tart pan coated with cooking spray; pierce dough with a fork. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack.
• To prepare pastry cream, combine brown sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a medium, heavy saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean; add seeds and bean to milk mixture. Cook over medium-high heat until thick and bubbly (about 5 minutes), stirring constantly. Place egg in a large bowl. Gradually stir hot milk mixture into egg. Return milk mixture to pan; cook 2 minutes or until mixture reaches 185° and coats the back of a spoon, stirring constantly. Discard vanilla bean. Spread pastry cream onto a baking sheet; cover entire surface with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 20 minutes or until chilled. Spread pastry cream evenly into tart shell; cover and chill at least 2 hours or until set.
• To prepare topping, combine juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and pears; toss well to coat. Place pears, cut side down, in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 45 minutes or until tender. Cool completely; thinly slice. Place on paper towels; pat dry with additional paper towels. Arrange the pear slices spoke-like over pastry cream. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle 1/3 cup granulated sugar evenly over pears, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Holding a kitchen blowtorch about 2 inches from the top of custard, heat the sugar, moving the torch back and forth, until the sugar is melted and caramelized (about 3 minutes). Serve immediately.

EGGNOG CREME-BRULEE TARTLETS

Steps:

• Roll out both disks of dough on a lightly floured surface to a scant 1/8-inch thickness. Using a round cookie cutter or an inverted bowl and a paring knife, cut out eight 4 1/2-inch disks. Fit into eight 3 1/4-inch ring tart molds, pressing into corners and up sides (do not trim edges). Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet; freeze until firm, at least 20 minutes and up to 1 day.
• Meanwhile, bring cream and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar just to a boil in a small saucepan. Whisk together yolks and remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar in a heatproof bowl. Whisking constantly, ladle about one-half of hot cream mixture into yolk mixture. Pour egg mixture into pan and cook over medium-low, stirring constantly, until thick enough for spoon drawn through it to leave a trail, 3 to 5 minutes (do not let boil). Strain mixture into a heatproof measuring cup; stir in brandy and nutmeg.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Trim dough shells flush with rims of tart molds. Line each shell with parchment and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake 20 minutes. Remove parchment and weights; bake until golden and dry, about 1 minute more. Let cool slightly, about 10 minutes.
• Reduce temperature to 300 degrees. Divide custard evenly among shells, filling each almost to top. Bake until custard is just set around edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in molds on a wire rack 30 minutes. Remove rings and refrigerate until chilled and set, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
• Sprinkle each tart with about 2 teaspoons superfine sugar. Hold a handheld kitchen torch 3 to 4 inches above surface and move flame in a circular motion until sugar is deep golden brown. Serve immediately.

CREME BRULEE TART

Steps:

• For Pastry.
• Combine flour, sugar, and salt in large bowl.
• Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
• Add yolk and mix until dough just holds together.
• Flatten into a disc.
• Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour (or up to 3 days).
• Butter a 8 or 9 inch cake pan.
• Roll dough out on lightly floured surface into circle 1/8 inch thick.
• Fit into pan; trim and form edges.
• Prick shell and freeze until firm(or up to 1 month).
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Line shell with buttered parchment paper and fill with dried beans or pie weights.
• Bake 15 minutes;reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake 10 minutes.
• Remove paper and weights and continue baking until brown, about 8 minutes.
• For Creme.
• Whisk yolks and sugar in bowl set over simmering water(water should not touch bottom of bowl).
• Add cream, sour cream and vanilla and continue cooking, whisking occasionally, until very thick, 30 to 35 minutes; do not boil or creme will curdle.
• Remove bowl from over water and whisk in butter. Cool 20 minutes.
• To Assemble.
• Preheat broiler.
• Spread melted chocolate over crust; cover with berries.
• Top with creme, smoothing surface with spatula.
• Sift brown sugar over entire top.
• Broil until sugar carmelizes, watching carefully to prevent burning.
• Let cool;refrigerate.
• Serve tart well chilled.

RASPBERRY CRèME BRûLéE TARTLETS

Steps:

• For crusts:
• Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter and ginger and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Drizzle in ice water and process until clumps form. Gather dough into ball and divide into 2 pieces. Flatten each into disk and wrap in plastic. Chill until firm, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.).
• Roll out each dough disk between two pieces of plastic wrap to 6-inch round. Gently press each into two 4 1/2-inch tartlet pans. Fold overhang in to form double-thick sides. Poke bottom of crusts a couple times with fork. Freeze 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F Bake crusts until golden, about 25 minutes, piercing with fork if crusts bubble. Transfer to cooling rack. Immediately spoon 1/2 tablespoon preserves over bottom of each crust. Cool completely. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
• For custard:
• Bring cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat, add white chocolate and whisk until melted. Whisk yolks and vanilla in medium bowl. Slowly whisk cream mixture into yolks to blend well. Pour custard into both crusts. Bake until center is set, about 20 minutes. Cool on rack. Chill several hours or overnight.
• Sprinkle each tartlet with 1 teaspoon sugar. Using a kitchen torch slowly heat the sugar moving the torch in small circles until sugar melts and browns, being careful not to burn the crusts. Refrigerate tartlets until cold, at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours. Arrange fresh raspberries around edge of tartlets and serve.