Crème Brûlée Tartlets Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 9-inch tart pan with 1-inch rim and removable bottom with cooking spray. In small bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt; set aside.
• In large bowl, beat softened butter and 1/2 cup sugar with spoon until blended. Beat in 1 egg and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in flour mixture until well blended. Pat and press dough very firmly with floured fingers in bottom and up side of tart pan. Place tart pan on rimmed baking sheet.
• Bake 10 to 14 minutes or until crust is set in center but still pale. Cool 10 minutes. Using a flat-bottom measuring cup, carefully press to flatten partially baked dough in center and up sides.
• Meanwhile, in medium bowl, beat egg yolks, 1 egg and 3 tablespoons sugar with whisk. Beat in whipping cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Place tart pan on rimmed baking sheet. Pour egg mixture into partially baked crust. Carefully transfer to oven on baking sheet.
• Bake 30 to 34 minutes or until custard layer is just set. Cool on cooling rack 30 minutes. Refrigerate uncovered at least 2 hours.
• Before serving, set oven control to broil. Cover crust edge with 2- to 3-inch wide strip of foil to prevent excessive browning. Sprinkle top of tart with 2 tablespoons sugar. Place tart pan on rimmed baking sheet with top about 5 inches from heat. Broil 1 to 2 minutes or until top is brown and sugar is melted. Remove from oven. Remove tart from pan. This recipe is best made the same day it is served.

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.

Steps:

• For crust:
• Combine flour, sugar, and salt in processor; blend 5 seconds. Using on/off turns, blend in butter until coarse meal forms. Add 4 teaspoons cream. Using on/off turns, blend until moist clumps form, adding more cream by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap and chill at least 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Roll out dough on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Fold overhang in, pressing to form double-thick sides. Bake crust until golden, pressing with back of fork if crust bubbles, about 18 minutes (small cracks may appear). Brush inside of hot crust twice with egg white. Maintain oven temperature.
• For filling:
• Whisk 3/4 cup sugar, cream, yolks, and eggs in bowl to blend well. Mix in lemon juice and lemon peel. Pour filling into warm crust. Bake until filling is slightly puffed at edges and set in center, about 30 minutes. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
• Preheat broiler. Place tart on baking sheet. Cover edge of crust with foil to prevent burning. Sprinkle tart with 2 tablespoons sugar. Broil tart until sugar melts and caramelizes, turning sheet for even browning, about 2 minutes. Transfer tart to rack. Cool until topping is crisp, about 1 hour.
• Push tart pan bottom up, releasing tart. Place on platter, garnish with lemon slices, if desired, and serve.

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.

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.

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.

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.