Graham Crust Butter Tarts Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.
• Stir graham cracker crumbs and white sugar together in a bowl; stir in melted butter until crumbs are coated. Press crumb mixture evenly into the bottom and partway up sides of prepared muffin cups.
• Bake shells in the preheated oven for 5 minutes. Remove shells from oven and keep oven at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Beat brown sugar and softened butter together in a bowl until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat eggs into sugar mixture, adding one at a time and beating until fully incorporated before adding next; beat in vanilla extract. Stir half-and-half into sugar mixture.
• Place a spoonful of raisins and pecans into the bottom of each shell; pour about 1/4 cup sugar mixture into each shell.
• Bake tarts in the preheated oven until bubbly, about 15 minutes. Remove tarts from oven and cool completely on a wire rack, about 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Whisk flour and 1 teaspoon salt together in a large bowl; cut lard into flour mixture with a pastry blender until crumbly. Make a well in the flour mixture and place 1 beaten egg into the well.
• Pour ice cold water and vinegar into flour mixture; stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Divide dough into two balls; wrap dough in waxed paper and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Beat brown sugar and butter together in a bowl with an electric mixer until smooth; beat in 2 eggs one at a time. Stir raisins and vanilla extract into butter mixture.
• Roll out one ball of dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness; reserve remaining dough for another use. Cut dough into circles large enough to fit into the bottom and partway up sides of the wells of a muffin tin using a round biscuit cutter. Press dough circles lightly into muffin tin to form tart shells; fill each shell 3/4 full with raisin mixture.
• Bake in the preheated oven until filling is bubbly and pastry is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F
• Have ready an ungreased 9 1/2-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom.
• In a medium bowl, mix the crumbs and sugar with a fork until well blended.
• Drizzle the melted butter over the crumbs and mix until evenly moistened.
• Put the crumbs in the tart pan (I like to use a piece of plastic wrap between my hands and the crust) and use your hands to spread the crumbs so that they cover the bottom of the pan and sides.
• Use your fingers to pinch and press some of the crumbs around the inside edge of the pan to cover the sides evenly and create a wall about a scant 1/4 inch thick.
• Redistribute the remaining crumbs evenly over the bottom of the pan and press firmly to make a compact layer.
• Bake the crust until it smells nutty and fragrant, about 10 minutes.
• Set the baked crust on a rack and let cool. The crust can be made up to a day ahead and
• stored at room temperature, wrapped well in plastic.

Steps:

• To prepare the graham cracker shells cream the butter and sugars together until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the honey and beat until well combined.
• Sift together the flours, salt and cinnamon. Add to the butter mixture in two batches, scraping sides of bowl between additions. Mix until well combined. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 325*F. Roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick.Using a 3 inch cutter, cut out 16 circles of dough and press them into greased 2 inch tart pans. Prick dough all over with a fork and chill for 20 minutes.
• Bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. (they can be made up to 1 cay ahead and frozen for up to 3 months).
• For the pastry cream, combine 3/4 cup of the milk and 3 TBS of sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk together the egg yolks, cornstarch and the remaining 2 TBS sugar. Whisk the remaining 1/4 cup milk into the egg yolk mixture. Remove the milk mixture from the heat and add a little of the hot mixture to the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly to keep the egg yolks from cooking. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the hot milk mixture, whisking constantly as you pour.
• Return to the heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Let cook for 1 minute or so until it thickens. Add the cream cheese and vanilla, whisking until smooth. Strain through a cheesecloth lined sieve into a clean bowl. Cover the surface with plastic cling film and chill. Once chilled, whisk until smooth and fold in the whipped cream.
• To make the blueberry compote mix together 1 cup of the blueberries with the sugar in a medium saucepan. cook over low heat until the berries have all popped and broken down. (about 5 minutes) Strain the cookied berries into a bowl, discarding the solids. Add the remaining berries to the syrup and toss to combine.
• To assemble spoon the pastry cream into each tart shell and top with about 2 TBS of the blueberry compote. Serve soon after assembling.
• You can also make two large tarts. (use 9 inch tart pans.) Prick and bake as above increasing time to 25 minutes.