Gooseberry Crème Brûlée Tart Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in center. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to about 3/8 inch thick. Cut out eight 7-inch rounds, and transfer each round to a 4-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom. Fold edges under, and press dough into sides and corners of tart pans. Chill in freezer until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Prick bottoms of shells all over with a fork. Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Line each shell with parchment, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until pale golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove parchment and weights. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk eggs, yolk, and 1/3 cup sugar in a small bowl. Pour in cream, whisking until combined.
• Toss gooseberries with remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl. Pile sugar-covered gooseberries into tart shells (a scant 1 cup per tart), and slowly pour in custard (about 1/4 cup per tart). Dip a pastry brush into each custard filling, and lightly brush onto edges of shell. Sprinkle tops with sugar.
• Bake, rotating halfway through, until custard is just set and gooseberries are soft, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool 15 minutes. Serve warm.

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:

• 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 the tart dough: Put in the work bowl of a food processor, the flour, butter, salt and sugar. Pulse quickly until the butter is the size of peas. Add very cold, ice water in a small stream until the dough just comes together. Empty the work bowl out onto waxed paper and halve the dough. Using the ends of the paper, shape into 2 balls. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator until ready for use.
• Make the caramelized sugar: Pour sugar in heavy skillet, cook over low heat until sugar turns a medium brown. Pour caramelized sugar in a 10-inch aluminum tin or silcone mat to cool and harden. After it is cooled, break into pieces of 1-to 1 1/2-inch big. Set aside, it will be used to bake with berries.
• Make fruit filling: In a large bowl, place cleaned gooseberries and blueberries. Pour lemon juice on top. Sprinkle sugar, flour and nutmeg on top of the berries (Be careful not to mix, just sprinkle on top, or fruit will be mushy if over-handled).
• To assemble tartlettes: Take 8 small pie tins, brush with butter and liberally sprinkle with cornmeal. Cut dough into 8 equal pieces and put 7 back in the refrigerator (must be kept cold) roll out the dough into a 4-inch circle, it should be quite thick, you don't want it too thin. Place disk in pie tin and repeat until all 8 are done. Place all 8 tarts on sheet pan.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Brush bottom of dough shell with egg whites. Gently scoop out the berries with the flour-sugar mixture on top into the shells. Place a piece of the caramelized sugar on top of berries. Fold up the sides in a circle, do not close up completely, leaving an opening. Put 1 tablespoon butter on top of each tartlette. Brush egg white on the exposed dough and bake for 45 minutes.
• Serve with confectioners' sugar dusted on top.

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:

• Put the flour, a pinch of salt and the butter in a food processor and pulse until it resembles fine crumbs. Add the sugar and orange zest, and briefly pulse again. Pour in 2 tbsp of the egg mixture and pulse until the dough comes together, adding more liquid if needed.
• Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line four deep-fluted tartlet tins (8 x 3cm). Place the tins on a tray and chill for 30 mins. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Line each pastry case with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Bake for 10-15 mins, until the sides are set. Remove the parchment and beans and cook for 5-10 mins. Leave to cool. Can be made up to 1 day ahead at this stage and be stored in an airtight container. Lower the oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2.
• Pour the cream into a heavy-based saucepan, scrape in the seeds from the vanilla pod, then throw in the 2 halves of the pod. Heat until small bubbles begin to form around the sides of the pan, then leave to infuse for 5 mins. Remove the pod. In a bowl, beat together the egg yolks, whole egg and sugar. Keep stirring, then pour in the cream, mixing until combined. Strain through a sieve into a jug. Pour the custard into the tart shells, then bake for 18-22 mins until almost set (they should be quite wobbly in the centre but will firm up on cooling). Leave to cool completely, then chill for 30 mins.
• Meanwhile, make the caramel topping. Grease a lipped metal baking tray with a little oil. Tip the caster sugar into a frying pan with 3 tbsp water and heat gently until the sugar starts to melt. Don't be tempted to stir the sugar, as this can encourage the caramel to crystalise. However, you can tilt the pan to move it around. Once the sugar is almost melted, turn up the heat and bubble the caramel to a deep golden-brown colour. Quickly tip onto the greased tray and leave to cool completely. Once cool, turn the tray upside down and tap to release the caramel. Break into pieces, then whizz in a food processor until you have fine crystals.
• Heat the grill. Scatter a thick layer of caramel crystals over the surface of each tart, and pop a collar of foil around the top edge of the pastry. Place under the grill, not too near the heat source, and let the caramel melt - watch carefully as they will burn easily. Leave to cool, then chill for 30 mins or until ready to serve.

Steps:

• Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until large enough to line a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Trim the excess pastry from around the edge, then line the pastry case with baking parchment, fill with baking beans and chill for 30 mins.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Bake the pastry case for 15 mins, then carefully lift out the parchment and beans, and bake for 5 mins more or until biscuity. Meanwhile, beat the eggs, cream, sugar and vanilla together, then strain into a jug.
• Scatter the gooseberries into the pastry case, then pour in the vanilla custard mixture. Bake for 35-40 mins until the custard is set and the gooseberries are tender. Cool a little before serving, or cool completely and eat cold, dusted with icing sugar, if you like.