June 1, 2011

Fruit Tarts made with Pâte Sucrée


Do you want to hear something funny? I've re-discovered all that is great about the library.  Which is pretty ironic because when I was a kid I practically lived there, I loved it so much.  But, the advent of amazon.com, coupled with a steady paycheck, pretty much killed that love affair.  

A few months ago, in an effort to scale back on my amazon addiction, I was reminded by my sister that the neighborhood library was recently remodeled.  So I went to check it out and see what they had to offer. What I found were tons of magazines, cookbooks and DVDs to peruse...score!  

On a recent trip I saw The SoNo Baking Company Cookbook among the stacks and immediately grabbed it.  It had been featured before on the Martha Stewart Show and the fruit tarts pictured on the cover immediately caught my eye.


The crust is made with a pâte sucrée or sweet short pastry dough.  I normally use this Sweet Caillat Crust for fruit tarts, but I wanted to try something new and I'm glad I did.  The crust is crispy and crunchy, similar to a cookie and tastes fantastic with the pastry cream and fresh fruit.

Pâte Sucrée (adapted from the SoNo Baking Company Cookbook)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk

Cream the butter, sugar and salt until light and fluffy in a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Add the egg and yolk, and mix to combine.  Add the flour and beat until it has been absorbed.

Put the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap, shape into a flattened disk, and wrap in the plastic.  Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/8-inch thick.  Fit the dough in to your chosen tart pan, making sure the it extends slightly over the top of the mold.  With the rolling pin, roll it over the edges of the tart pan so that it cuts off the excess dough.  Prick the dough all over with a fork.  Place lined tart pan in the fridge for at least 45 minutes.  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for about 15-18 minutes, until lightly browned and crisp, rotating the sheet halfway through the cooking time.  Cool the crusts completely in the pan.  Once cool you can remove it from the pan.

Fill with pastry cream and top with fresh fruit.  If desired, press chopped or sliced nuts around the border of the tart.

3 comments:

  1. delicious looking pictures! tarts and pies are my new thing lately and this is further encouragement to get movin on it! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous6/01/2011

    Oh my lord those look delicious! Definitely going to give this a try, yum!

    ReplyDelete
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