Mini Blueberry Lavender Cornmeal Cream Tarts Food

MINI BLUEBERRY TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Crush half the blueberries. Sift together sugar and cornstarch. Add whole and crushed blueberries; toss until berries are well coated. Set aside., On a lightly floured surface, unroll crusts. Cut out six 4-1/2-in. circles; press circles onto bottoms and up sides of greased muffin cups. Evenly spoon in blueberry mixture. Cut out six 2-in. circles from remaining crust; place over filling. Brush with yolk., Bake until crust is golden and filling bubbles, 13-17 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes; run a knife around sides of muffin cups and remove tarts to a serving plate.

MINI BLUEBERRY-LAVENDER CORNMEAL CREAM TARTS

Steps:

• Cream: Bring cream and lavender just to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat, cover, and let cool completely. Refrigerate until well chilled, up to 2 days.
• Crusts: Pulse flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add yolk and ice water and pulse until dough comes together, then knead until very smooth and combined. Pat into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or overnight.
• Let dough stand at room temperature until pliable. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to a little more than 1/8 inch thick. Cut out 4-inch circles, gathering scraps and rerolling dough once. Fit into twelve 2 1/2-inch-diameter tartlet pans, making sides thicker than bottoms. Place pans on a rimmed baking sheet and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake on baking sheet until golden brown, pressing down often on centers as they puff up, about 25 minutes. Let cool completely.
• Filling: Pass cold lavender cream through a fine sieve into a mixing bowl. In a small bowl, mix sugar and vanilla-bean seeds with fingers until combined. Add to cream and whisk with a mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. Dividing evenly, dollop cream into tart shells, top with blueberries and lavender, and serve.

BLUEBERRY CREAM TART

Steps:

• Put the flour in a large bowl. Add the sugar and mix. Make a well in the center and place the butter and egg yolk in the well. Using your fingers, work the butter and egg yolk together until well combined, then work the butter-egg mixture into the flour-sugar mixture until combined but still loose. The dough will be crumbly, but when you squeeze a handful, it should hold together.
• Sprinkle the dough into a 10-inch pie or tart pan. Press the dough firmly and evenly onto the bottom and sides of the pan, making sure not to let the crust thicken at the corners. It should make a clean right angle where the sides meet the bottom. Chill the crust at least 30 minutes, or covered, up to 3 days. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake until light golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool before filling.
• Blueberry Bavarian Cream: Pick over the blueberries, setting aside the best ones to make a circle around the edge of the finished tart. (You'll need about 1 cup.) Heat the milk and vanilla bean in a saucepan over medium heat just until it boils. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 10 minutes. Combine the gelatin and water in a small bowl, and let dissolve, stirring occasionally, until no dry spots remain.
• Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the still-hot milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. At 160 degrees, the mixture will give off a puff of steam. When the mixture reaches 180 degrees it will be thickened and creamy, like eggnog. If you don't have a thermometer, test it by dipping a wooden spoon into the mixture. Run your finger down the back of the spoon. If the stripe remains clear, the mixture is ready; if the edges blur, the mixture is not quite thick enough. When it is ready, quickly remove it from the heat.
• Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice water half way. Strain the mixture into a medium bowl to smooth it and remove the vanilla bean. Pour off 1 cup of this mixture (Anglaise) into a large bowl and set aside. Place the medium bowl containing the remainder of the mixture in the ice water and let cool, stirring often. Add the gelatin to the cup of hot Anglaise in the large bowl and mix until completely dissolved, creating a Bavarian cream. Working quickly, fold the larger amount of berries into the Bavarian cream and spoon the mixture into the center of the tart shell. Spread until smooth and even. Before the filling cools completely, arrange the reserved berries around the edge of the tart to form a rim. Chill at least 2 hours and serve in slices, pouring a bit of the Anglaise next to each side.

BLUEBERRY LEMON CREAM TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F with a baking sheet on middle rack.
• Stir together graham cracker crumbs, granulated sugar, and butter in a bowl with a fork until combined well, then press mixture with your fingers and back of a spoon evenly and firmly onto bottom and up side of each tart pan. (If using ramekins, press mixture 3/4 inch up sides.)
• Put tart pans on preheated baking sheet and bake crusts until slightly darker, about 10 minutes, then cool 10 minutes on a rack. (Ramekins will need to cool an additional 5 minutes in refrigerator.) Gently push bottom of each tart pan to loosen crust, then invert crust onto your hand and place on a serving plate. (If using ramekins, leave crusts in ramekins.)
• While crusts cool, whisk together brown sugar, sour cream, and vanilla in a small bowl until sugar is dissolved. Beat cream cheese in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth, then add sour cream mixture and zest, beating until just combined well.
• Divide cream cheese filling among tart shells, spreading evenly, then top with blueberries and dust with confectioners sugar.

BLUEBERRY-BLACKBERRY RUSTIC TART

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar and cornmeal; cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add buttermilk, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Shape into a disk; cover and refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight., Preheat oven to 375°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into a 14-in. circle. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet., In a large bowl, combine berries, sugar, flour and lemon juice; spoon over crust to within 2 in. of edge. Fold crust edge over filling, leaving center uncovered. Brush folded crust with beaten egg; sprinkle with turbinado sugar., Bake 55-60 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Using parchment, slide tart onto a wire rack to cool. If desired, serve with whipped cream.

MINI FRUIT TARTS

Steps:

• Stir flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter or 2 knives until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces the size of small peas. Mix in water with a fork just until the dough comes together.
• Toss berries, sugar, flour, and salt together in a bowl to make the filling. Set aside at room temperature.
• Lightly butter or grease 14 muffin cups. Place some dough in each muffin cup and press it against the bottoms and sides to create tart shells that are 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick. Divide berry filling evenly among the tart shells.
• Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Refrigerate tarts for 15 minutes while the oven preheats.
• Bake tarts in the preheated oven until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling, 15 to 18 minutes.

LITTLE BLUEBERRY CREAM TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to fan 160C/ conventional 180C/gas 4. Lightly butter two 12-hole bun tins (no need if using non-stick). Beat the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon for a minute or two until soft and creamy. Mix in the hazelnuts.
• Put a heaped teaspoon of the mixture into each tart tin. Bake for about 10 minutes until golden and risen slightly up the sides of each tin. Leave to cool in the tins for about 5 minutes or until the mixture is firm enough to remove, then ease each tart from the tins with a small knife and put on to a sheet of kitchen paper as the bases are quite buttery. (The tart cases can be made up to 1 day ahead to this stage and stored in an airtight tin in a cool place.)
• For the blueberries, put the sugar in a small pan with 1 tbsp water. Put over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then turn up the heat a bit and bubble gently until syrupy, about 30 seconds only. Take off the heat and tip in the blueberries. Stir gently just to coat the berries in the syrup - you want to keep them whole - then leave to cool.
• Beat the mascarpone with enough milk to make a soft creamy mixture, a bit like whipped cream. Lightly stir in the lemon curd so it ripples - it looks nice if it's not fully stirred in. You now have a choice. For a teatime treat: Spoon a little of the mascarpone mixture into each tart case, then spoon over a few of the syrupy blueberries. For a pretty dessert: Spoon half of the syrupy blueberries into a bowl and set aside. Cook the ones left in the pan gently for a few minutes just to burst and soften the berries - you will get lots of juices. Using a wooden spoon, press them through a sieve into a bowl to make a sauce. Cool. Ripple a spoonful of the sauce into the mascarpone mixture, then spoon a little into each tart case. Pile the whole syrupy blueberries on top. Do this no more than an hour ahead - less on a warm day, as they soften. For each serving, put 3 of the tarts in the middle of a plate and spoon over a little sauce. Serve the rest of the sauce separately.

BLUEBERRY CORNMEAL SHORTBREAD TART

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Make the crust and topping: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, confectioners' sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Add melted butter, then use your hands or a wooden spoon to combine ingredients until no dry spots remain.
• Press half of the cornmeal mixture into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom (alternatively, use a 9-inch cake pan or springform pan, lined with parchment), making sure the mixture is evenly pressed on the bottom and about 1/2 inch up the sides. (Using something large and flat, like the bottom of a measuring cup, will be helpful.) Reserve the remaining mixture.
• Make the filling: Toss blueberries, brown sugar, vinegar, flour and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour the fruit into the crust.
• Crumble the remaining cornmeal mixture over the blueberries, pressing bits of the mixture together into large clumps as you go, as you would with a crisp or coffee-cake topping.
• Bake tart until the blueberry filling is bubbly and thickened, and both the crust and top are nicely browned, 40 to 45 minutes.
• Let tart cool completely before slicing into triangles and serving. The tart can be baked up to 2 days ahead and stored tightly wrapped at room temperature or refrigerated (especially if your kitchen is hot or humid).