Rice Flour Tarts Food

DIANE'S ALMOND TARTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in 2 cups all-purpose flour and 1/4 cup cornstarch. Shape into a ball and refrigerate for 1 hour. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness, cut into appropriate size circles with a glass or cookie cutter and press into tart shells. Spoon 1 teaspoon jam into bottom of each shell.
• In a large bowl, cream 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup white sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in rice flour and cocoa powder. Beat in eggs and 2 teaspoons almond extract. Fill tarts 2/3 full.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown and filling is set. Allow to cool.
• In a small bowl, Stir together 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 2 tablespoons butter and 1/2 teaspoon almond extract. Spread on tarts. Garnish each tart with a maraschino cherry.

RICE FLOUR TARTS

Steps:

• Line small cupcake pans with rounds of uncooked rich pastry. Put 1/2 tsp of raspberry jam in each.
• Cream butter and sugar and add eggs. Blend in flour, almond extract and salt.
• Top each tart with this mixture and bake at 375 for about 25 minutes.

BAKEWELL TART WITH RICE FLOUR

Steps:

• From this recipe I made one 9" tart and 6 small individual tarts in a mince pie tin. You could use a larger tart dish or make around 16 individual small tarts.
• For sweet rice flour pastry use recipe http://www.food.com/recipe/rice-flour-pastry-16478/ (I add a couple of pinches of xanthan gum to this linked recipe so the pastry holds together better).
• Line pan/dish with pastry by pressing in the pastry dough. You can press it fairly thin and it will hold together with the xanthan gum added. If you get holes or the pastry is so thin you can see the tin through it you can just press in a little more dough and it will blend together. Bake blind for 5 minutes at gas mark 5.
• Now make the sponge mix for the topping. Cream together the butter and sugar. Add egg, rice flour and the baking powder then beat. Add almond essence (or amaretto).
• Line the pastry with strawberry jam (apricot jam also works well for a frangipane test) and pour the sponge mix over it into the pastry.
• Bake at gas 7 until sponge is golden brown. (Approximate timings I think around 20-30 minutes for a single tart and 15-20 minutes for small individual tarts).
• The sponge will froth up as it cooks but this will settle once it's out of the oven.

RICE TART

Steps:

• In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), mix the flour and sugar. Add the butter and mix until coarse and sandy. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks and cream together. Add to the flour mixture and mix at low speed just until combined. Turn out onto a work surface and form into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick, this should be done in small batches as the dough gets soft fast. With a large round cutter cut out disks and keep them chilled while you roll and cut the rest of the dough. Line 3-inch diameter by 1 1/4-inches tall metal collars with the disks and chill. Bake the tart shells blind by lining them with plastic wrap (that's right!) and fill with raw rice then gather the plastic wrap up to contain the rice. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes then remove the rice packets and bake 2 more minutes to crisp them. Meanwhile, make the filling. Let crusts cool slightly.
• To make the filling, in a saucepan, heat the half-and-half, cream, salt, and vanilla bean over medium heat, stirring occasionally to make sure the mixture doesn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pan. When the cream mixture reaches a fast simmer (do not let it boil), turn off the heat. Set aside to infuse 10 to 15 minutes.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together. Whisking constantly, gradually add the hot cream mixture. Strain into a large bowl to smooth the mixture and remove the vanilla bean. Add the rice and raisins and toss well. Spoon filling into baked tart shells. Reset the oven temperature to 325 degrees F and bake the tart for 20 to 25 minutes till the custard is set. Let cool then sprinkle with confectioners' sugar.

TART SHELL

Steps:

• Blend together flour, sugar, salt, butter, and shortening with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Drizzle evenly with 3 tablespoons ice water and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in food processor) until incorporated.
• Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just incorporated, then test again. (If you overwork mixture, pastry will be tough.)
• Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion. Gather dough together with scraper and press into a ball, then flatten into a 6-inch disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Roll out dough with a floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface and fit into tart pan. Trim excess dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, then fold overhang inward and press against side of pan to reinforce edge. Lightly prick bottom and sides with a fork. Chill 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Line tart shell with foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights. Bake in middle of oven until pastry is pale golden along rim, 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake until pale golden all over, 10 minutes more. Cool in pan on a rack.