Little Blueberry Cream Tarts Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Crush half the blueberries. Sift together sugar and cornstarch. Add whole and crushed blueberries; toss until berries are well coated. Set aside., On a lightly floured surface, unroll crusts. Cut out six 4-1/2-in. circles; press circles onto bottoms and up sides of greased muffin cups. Evenly spoon in blueberry mixture. Cut out six 2-in. circles from remaining crust; place over filling. Brush with yolk., Bake until crust is golden and filling bubbles, 13-17 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes; run a knife around sides of muffin cups and remove tarts to a serving plate.

Steps:

• Put the flour in a large bowl. Add the sugar and mix. Make a well in the center and place the butter and egg yolk in the well. Using your fingers, work the butter and egg yolk together until well combined, then work the butter-egg mixture into the flour-sugar mixture until combined but still loose. The dough will be crumbly, but when you squeeze a handful, it should hold together.
• Sprinkle the dough into a 10-inch pie or tart pan. Press the dough firmly and evenly onto the bottom and sides of the pan, making sure not to let the crust thicken at the corners. It should make a clean right angle where the sides meet the bottom. Chill the crust at least 30 minutes, or covered, up to 3 days. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake until light golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool before filling.
• Blueberry Bavarian Cream: Pick over the blueberries, setting aside the best ones to make a circle around the edge of the finished tart. (You'll need about 1 cup.) Heat the milk and vanilla bean in a saucepan over medium heat just until it boils. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 10 minutes. Combine the gelatin and water in a small bowl, and let dissolve, stirring occasionally, until no dry spots remain.
• Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl. Whisking constantly, slowly pour the still-hot milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. At 160 degrees, the mixture will give off a puff of steam. When the mixture reaches 180 degrees it will be thickened and creamy, like eggnog. If you don't have a thermometer, test it by dipping a wooden spoon into the mixture. Run your finger down the back of the spoon. If the stripe remains clear, the mixture is ready; if the edges blur, the mixture is not quite thick enough. When it is ready, quickly remove it from the heat.
• Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice water half way. Strain the mixture into a medium bowl to smooth it and remove the vanilla bean. Pour off 1 cup of this mixture (Anglaise) into a large bowl and set aside. Place the medium bowl containing the remainder of the mixture in the ice water and let cool, stirring often. Add the gelatin to the cup of hot Anglaise in the large bowl and mix until completely dissolved, creating a Bavarian cream. Working quickly, fold the larger amount of berries into the Bavarian cream and spoon the mixture into the center of the tart shell. Spread until smooth and even. Before the filling cools completely, arrange the reserved berries around the edge of the tart to form a rim. Chill at least 2 hours and serve in slices, pouring a bit of the Anglaise next to each side.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to fan 160C/ conventional 180C/gas 4. Lightly butter two 12-hole bun tins (no need if using non-stick). Beat the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon for a minute or two until soft and creamy. Mix in the hazelnuts.
• Put a heaped teaspoon of the mixture into each tart tin. Bake for about 10 minutes until golden and risen slightly up the sides of each tin. Leave to cool in the tins for about 5 minutes or until the mixture is firm enough to remove, then ease each tart from the tins with a small knife and put on to a sheet of kitchen paper as the bases are quite buttery. (The tart cases can be made up to 1 day ahead to this stage and stored in an airtight tin in a cool place.)
• For the blueberries, put the sugar in a small pan with 1 tbsp water. Put over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved, then turn up the heat a bit and bubble gently until syrupy, about 30 seconds only. Take off the heat and tip in the blueberries. Stir gently just to coat the berries in the syrup - you want to keep them whole - then leave to cool.
• Beat the mascarpone with enough milk to make a soft creamy mixture, a bit like whipped cream. Lightly stir in the lemon curd so it ripples - it looks nice if it's not fully stirred in. You now have a choice. For a teatime treat: Spoon a little of the mascarpone mixture into each tart case, then spoon over a few of the syrupy blueberries. For a pretty dessert: Spoon half of the syrupy blueberries into a bowl and set aside. Cook the ones left in the pan gently for a few minutes just to burst and soften the berries - you will get lots of juices. Using a wooden spoon, press them through a sieve into a bowl to make a sauce. Cool. Ripple a spoonful of the sauce into the mascarpone mixture, then spoon a little into each tart case. Pile the whole syrupy blueberries on top. Do this no more than an hour ahead - less on a warm day, as they soften. For each serving, put 3 of the tarts in the middle of a plate and spoon over a little sauce. Serve the rest of the sauce separately.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Beat together the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy, about 1 min. Stir in the almonds, egg and almond extract.
• Stir in half the blueberries and spoon into the pastry case. Smooth the top using the back of a metal spoon, then scatter over the remaining blueberries, pressing them in lightly. Bake for 45-50 mins until the pastry is crisp and golden, and the filling is golden and feels firm to the touch.
• Cool the tart for 10 mins in the tin, then lift onto a serving plate. Dust with a little icing sugar and serve warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F with a baking sheet on middle rack.
• Stir together graham cracker crumbs, granulated sugar, and butter in a bowl with a fork until combined well, then press mixture with your fingers and back of a spoon evenly and firmly onto bottom and up side of each tart pan. (If using ramekins, press mixture 3/4 inch up sides.)
• Put tart pans on preheated baking sheet and bake crusts until slightly darker, about 10 minutes, then cool 10 minutes on a rack. (Ramekins will need to cool an additional 5 minutes in refrigerator.) Gently push bottom of each tart pan to loosen crust, then invert crust onto your hand and place on a serving plate. (If using ramekins, leave crusts in ramekins.)
• While crusts cool, whisk together brown sugar, sour cream, and vanilla in a small bowl until sugar is dissolved. Beat cream cheese in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth, then add sour cream mixture and zest, beating until just combined well.
• Divide cream cheese filling among tart shells, spreading evenly, then top with blueberries and dust with confectioners sugar.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix flour, butter, and powdered sugar together until a dough forms. Press dough into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool slightly.
• Meanwhile, toss blueberries with cornstarch and place in a saucepan over low heat. Add sugar and lemon extract. Simmer, stirring gently to avoid crushing the berries, until sugar dissolves and filling thickens, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Pour blueberry filling over the cooled crust. Let cool before slicing.