Sally Darrs Updated Dried Fruit Tart Recipes

Steps:

• To make the crust, in a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and cut in with a pastry blender or 2 forks until the mixture resembles small pebbles. Stir in just enough of the ice water so the dough forms a rough ball.
• Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and push the dough with the heels of your hands into a 6-by-4-inch rectangle. Fold up the bottom 1/3 of the rectangle, then fold the top 1/3 down, as if folding a letter. Turn dough 90 degrees and repeat, rolling out the dough to a 6-by-4-inch rectangle and refolding. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator and set aside for 10 minutes to soften slightly, so it is easy to handle. Roll out the dough into a 13-inch circle. Fit the dough into a 10- 1/2-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough gently into place, prick the bottom with a fork and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. To make the filling and glaze, take the pastry from the refrigerator. Core, peel and halve the apples. With the flat side of the apple down, cut crosswise into thin slices. Fan them concentrically, reserving about 6 slices for the center of the tart. Sprinkle the apples with sugar and dot with butter. Bake until the crust is brown and the apples lightly caramelized, about 1 hour.
• Remove the tart from the oven and carefully remove the sides of the pan. Slide the tart onto a rack to cool to room temperature.
• In a nonreactive saucepan, melt the apricot preserves with the rum until the mixture is smooth, about 5 minutes. Strain the glaze through a fine mesh sieve and brush over the tart.

Steps:

• Make the crust: In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and heavy cream. In the bowl of a food processor with a blade attachment, pulse the flour, butter, sugar and salt until no big chunks of butter remain. Slowly add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture. Blend to combine but don't overwork the dough.
• Remove the dough and, turning it out onto a lightly floured surface, knead it 4 or 5 times to incorporate.
• Divide the dough in half if making one large tart. Divide the dough into four pieces if making mini tarts. Flatten the dough pieces into discs with your hands, wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 20 minutes and up to overnight. (Freeze any remaining pieces for another project for up to 3 months.)
• Make the pastry cream: Put a damp kitchen towel under a medium bowl and whisk together the egg yolks and 1/4 cup of the sugar until the yolks are lighter in color, about 2 minutes. (The towel will ensure the bowl doesn't slide around.) Add the cornstarch and salt, whisk again, and set the bowl aside.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and the remaining sugar 1/4 cup sugar and cook until the mixture almost boils, 4 to 5 minutes. With one hand, start whisking the egg yolk mixture; with the other hand, slowly drizzle the hot milk into the bowl, whisking until all the milk is incorporated.
• Pour the custard back into the saucepan and continue cooking, stirring constantly, on medium-high heat, until the mixture is thick and one bubble plops up on top, about 2 minutes.
• Remove the custard from the heat and pour into a clean medium bowl. Don't scrape the pot if the bottom looks burned or like scrambled eggs. Now, stir in the butter and vanilla. Keep stirring until the butter melts. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the bowl so it is touching the pastry cream, then refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Bake the tart shell or shells: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough on a floured surface until it is a circle (about 9 inches across and 1/2 inch thick for one large tart and about 6 inches across and 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick for four mini tarts.
• Lay the dough onto the tart pan, and then using your fingers, gently press it down. Try not to tear the dough or make it too thin. Ideally, it should be an even thickness all the way across.
• Using a sharp knife, carefully trim the edges so the dough is perfectly even with the top of the tart shell (see Cook's Note). Place the tart shell on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Using a fork, poke a bunch of holes in the bottom of the tart shell to keep bubbles from forming during baking. Refrigerate the tart shell for 20 minutes. Repeat with the remaining tart shells if using.
• Remove the pan or pans from the fridge and lay a piece of parchment over the chilled dough. Fill the uncooked tart shell with pie weights or dried beans or uncooked rice.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then, using oven mitts, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Remove the pie weights and parchment. Return the baking sheet to the oven, continuing to bake until the crust is golden brown, 5 to 8 more minutes. Let the pan or pans cool on a wire rack.
• Make the glaze and finish the tart: In a medium pot over medium heat, cook the apricot jam and water. Stir with a fork as it cooks until the mixture is a thin, shiny liquid, about 3 minutes.
• Take the pastry cream from the fridge and, in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed, beat the pastry cream to loosen it up. Spread the pastry cream in a thin 1/4- to 1/2-inch layer on the bottom of the tart shell.
• Carefully cut the strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, kiwi, mangos and figs. Arrange the fruit so there is no visible pastry cream. (You can make the tart look awesome by laying the fruit in cool patterns.)
• Once the fruit is arranged, use a soft pastry brush to paint it with the warm apricot glaze. Don't leave any bare spots. Make sure to glaze all the fruit. Take your time.
• Cut and serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 12 hours.

Steps:

• For Crust: In large mixing bowl, mix the flour, ground almonds, brown sugar and salt together. Rub the butter pieces into the flour mixture. Add the ice water and gently knead until dough comes together. Wrap in plastic and form in flat disc about 1-inch thick. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Sprinkle flour on the countertop and roll out the dough to an even thickness, round shape. Place dough round in a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Fold any edges inside, forming a thicker crust. Leave the dough a bit longer than the edges of the tart pan to allow for shrinking during cooking. Line the inside of the crust with parchment paper or foil. Pour in the beans, filling to the edges. Bake about 20 minutes, or until bottom begins to look cooked. Let cool. Remove the beans and foil.
• For Tart: Toss the berries with the flour, salt, sugar, butter, and lemon juice and lemon zest. Stir in the brown sugar. Place the fruit in a saute pan over medium heat and cook just until a sauce is formed. Place the fruit in the baked crust and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the fruit bubbles and juice thickens.
• Remove from oven and cool for 2 hours before slicing.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees.with a rack in center. Spread all the walnuts on a baking pan. Bake until fragrant, about 7 minutes. Transfer nuts to a bowl; set aside to cool.
• Reduce oven heat to 325 degrees. Brush tartlet pans with melted butter. In a large bowl, whisk together the 12 tablespoons melted butter, sugar, eggs, almond extract, and flour. Batter will be thick. Stir in cranberries and 3/4 cup toasted nuts.
• Fill each mold with 1/2 cup batter. Sprinkle each top with 1 teaspoon walnuts and amber sugar, if desired. Bake until golden and slightly crusty on top, 30 to 40 minutes. A cake tester inserted in the center should come out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack. Once cool, remove tarts from pans. These are best served within a day.

Steps:

• For the fruit, combine the prunes, apricots and figs in a mixing bowl and cover with the Armagnac. Let stand for 3 hours, turning the fruit from time to time.
• Meanwhile for the crust, place the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a food processor and pulse just to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. With the machine running, pour in the egg mixture. Process just until dough begins to come together. Gently press the dough together with your hands, flatten into a disk and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain the fruit; set aside. Roll out the dough between 2 large sheets of plastic wrap and fit it into a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, or a 10-inch quiche dish. For the filling, cream the butter and the confectioners' sugar with an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla. Mix in the flour and the salt. Stir in the ground almonds.
• Spread the fruit evenly over the bottom of the tart shell. Spoon the filling over the fruit. Bake until the filling is set and the crust is browned, about 40 minutes. Place on a rack to cool. Cut into wedges and serve.