Dried Fruit Tart With Brandied Crème Anglaise Food

DRIED-FRUIT TART WITH BRANDIED CRèME ANGLAISE

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out dough 1/8 inch thick (about an 11-inch round). Fit dough into an 8-inch tart pan with a removable fluted rim and trim edge. With a fork prick bottom of shell all over. Chill shell 30 minutes, or until firm.
• Preheat oven to 375° F.
• Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights or raw rice. Bake shell in middle of oven 20 minutes. Carefully remove weights or rice and foil and bake shell until golden, 8 to 10 minutes more. Cool shell in pan on a rack.
• Make dried-fruit mixture:
• In a heavy saucepan simmer water with sugar and vanilla bean, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Halve apricots and add to syrup with prunes and cherries. Simmer mixture 10 minutes and pour through a sieve into a 2-cup glass measure (you will have about 1 2/3 cups syrup). Reserve fruit and vanilla bean.
• In a food processor purée 1/2 cup reserved fruit and 2 tablespoons syrup until smooth. Spread purée evenly over bottom of tart shell and arrange remaining fruit on top. In a cup sprinkle gelatin over cold water to soften 1 minute. In a small saucepan boil 1/2 cup remaining syrup until reduced to about 1/4 cup. Remove pan from heat and add gelatin mixture, stirring until gelatin is dissolved completely, and with a pastry brush brush glaze on fruit. Reserve remaining cup syrup for crème anglaise.
• Make crème anglaise:
• Have ready a metal bowl set in a larger bowl of ice and cold water. In a 2-quart heavy saucepan combine cream and reserved cup syrup. Split reserved vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape seeds into pan. Discard vanilla bean. Bring mixture just to a boil and remove pan from heat. In a bowl with an electric mixer beat together yolks and sugar until thick and pale. Add hot cream mixture to yolk mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Transfer mixture to cleaned pan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until slightly thickened and a thermometer registers 170° F. (Do not let custard boil.) Pour custard through a fine sieve into metal bowl set in bowl of ice water. Cool crème anglaise completely and stir in brandy. (Crème anglaise may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, its surface covered with plastic wrap.)
• Serve tart with crème anglaise.

BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE TART WITH CREME ANGLAISE AND VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Prepare a large bowl of ice water.
• In a heavy saucepan, add milk, vanilla beans, and cassia sticks tied in a loose knot and bring to a simmer on medium heat. Concurrently, in a mixing bowl, whisk eggs and sugar together. When the milk reaches a simmer, whisk in 1 cup of the hot milk to the egg mixture. Whisk this mix back to the hot milk, reduce heat to low and constantly stir with a wooden spoon.
• When mixture thickens enough to coat the back the wooden spoon and a line drawn with your finger holds it shape (about 12 to 15 minutes), immediately strain through a chinoise (fine sieve) into another bowl (a little smaller than the ice bath bowl) and place in ice bath. Stir occasionally to cool down. If there are any vanilla beans left on the pods, scrape into the anglaise. Stir to incorporate and chill sauce until ready to use.Sift the flour, salt and sugar into a food processor fitted with a blade. Add the butter and pulse until it resembles coarse meal, there should be pieces of butter. Add the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing the processor. Only add enough water until the dough just holds together (about 3 to 4 tablespoons). Wrap in plastic and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
• Vanilla Ice Cream: Freeze according to machine?s instructions.
• Bittersweet Chocolate Tart: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to about 9-inch diameter. Use an 8-inch false bottom tart pan and carefully place dough into the pan. Work the dough into the corners and prick with a fork. Cover with foil and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Fill pan with pie weights, rice or beans and bake blind for 15 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes, until the dough becomes very light tan. Pull pan out of the oven and let cool at room temperature.
• For the filling, bring the cream to a simmer. Pull off of the heat and add the chocolate. When chocolate is completely melted, mix well, and let cool in the refrigerator. When chocolate mixture is cold, pull out of the refrigerator and whisk in the eggs just until incorporated. Pour into the tart shell and bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. It should still tremble in the center when lightly shaken. Let tart cool on a rack before demolding. Garnish with powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
• On a large plate, garnish the rim of the plate with powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Ladle a small pool of creme anglaise. Place a slice of the tart off of the side and place 1 scoop of ice cream next to it. For the ultimate, make individual tarts.

GERMAN FRUIT TART WITH CREME FRAICHE

Steps:

• Mix and kneed together the ingredients for the crust.
• Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• In the meantime wash, pare, and slice or chop your fruit.
• Grease a 10-inch springform pan.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Roll out dough to fit bottom of spring form and about 1 1/2" up the side.
• Fit the dough into the spring form and using a stab tiny holes all over the crust using a fork.
• Arrange the fruit on the crust.
• In a bowl add the creme fraiche, eggs,sugar, and vanilla, and mix well.
• Pour the mixture over the fruit.
• Sprinkle with the nut slices.
• Back for 50 minutes.
• Remove from oven and let sit for 10 - 15 minutes.
• Carefully remove the the ring from the spring form and let the tart cool completely.

FRESH FRUIT TART

Steps:

• To make pastry: Using fingertips, rub butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse meal; stir in sugar and egg yolks; press mixture together to form a ball and refrigerate in plastic wrap for 30 minutes; preheat oven to 375°F.
• Roll pastry between two sheets of wax paper, making the pastry large enough to cover base and sides of a buttered 9-inch fluted tart pan; trim edges; place sheet of foil into pastry and fill with pie weights or dried beans; bake 20-25 minutes; remove foil and beans and bake a further 5 minutes; allow to cool.
• To make custard: In medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar and flour until thick and pale; heat milk in saucepan until almost boiling; remove from heat. Slowly dribble in hot milk into egg mixture, whisking continuously, until all of milk has been added. Return custard to pot and cook, over medium-low heat, until custard has thickened and coats the back of a spoon (5-7 minutes). Place piece of plastic wrap directly onto surface of custard (this prevents a 'skin' from forming) and allow to cool completely.
• To assemble: Spoon custard into baked pie shell and smooth. Place pieces of fruit attractively over tart. Heat apicot jam until it is quite liquid and brush this generously over the fresh fruit to set and seal the tart. Allow to cool completely.
• Serve the same day of making. Refrigerate any leftovers.