Tartaletas de Fruta estilo El Globo

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Twelve 3-inch tartlet molds with removable bottoms
• •Rolling pin
• •Heavy saucepan
• •Balloon whisk
• •Parchment paper and pie weights or dried beans
• •Pastry brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt in a wide bowl. Add the cold butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces left. Those pieces matter. They melt in the oven and make the shell crisp. Stir in the egg yolk, then add ice water one tablespoon at a time until the dough just holds together when pressed.

2. 2

   Rest the dough

   Turn the dough onto the counter, press it into a flat disk, wrap it, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Do not skip the rest. Warm dough shrinks, cracks, and behaves like it has never met discipline. Cold dough rolls cleanly and holds the tartlet shape.

3. 3

   Cook the custard

   Heat the milk with the vanilla bean seeds and pod, or the vanilla extract, until hot but not boiling. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt until pale and thick. Slowly whisk in half the hot milk, then return everything to the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the crema pastelera thickens and holds clear tracks from the whisk, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter.

4. 4

   Chill the crema

   Scrape the crema pastelera into a shallow dish. Press plastic wrap directly against the surface so it does not form a skin. Chill until cold and firm, at least 1 hour. A loose custard will slide under the fruit and ruin the tartlet. The spoon should stand with some confidence.

5. 5

   Line the molds

   Heat the oven to 375F. Roll the cold dough on a lightly floured counter to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut circles slightly larger than twelve 3-inch tartlet molds. Press the dough into the corners without stretching it. Trim the edges cleanly and prick the bottoms with a fork. If the dough softens, put the molds in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before baking.

6. 6

   Blind bake shells

   Line each shell with parchment and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 12 minutes, remove the weights, and bake 8 to 10 minutes more, until the shells are pale gold at the center and deeper gold at the rim. Let them cool completely in the molds, then lift them out carefully. The shell must be fully cool before the custard goes in.

7. 7

   Prepare the fruit

   Slice the fruit only when you are ready to assemble. Keep strawberries in halves or thin slices, mango in neat strips, kiwi in half-moons, peach in thin wedges, and grapes halved. Taste the fruit first. If the mango tastes like nothing, leave it out. A tartlet is only as good as the mercado that supplied it.

8. 8

   Fill the tartlets

   Whisk the chilled crema pastelera until smooth. Spoon or pipe it into the cooled shells, filling them just below the rim. Arrange the fruit over the custard in a generous pattern, letting the colors touch without piling the fruit so high that eating becomes a problem. Bakery windows like order. Home kitchens need sense.

9. 9

   Glaze and set

   Warm the apricot jam with the water and lime juice until loose, then strain if it has large fruit pieces. Brush a thin coat over the fruit. You want shine and protection, not a sticky blanket. Chill the tartlets for 20 minutes before serving so the glaze sets and the crema holds cleanly under the fruit. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Use Mexican vanilla if you can find a serious bottle, not imitation syrup with a perfume smell. Papantla, Veracruz built part of its identity on vanilla. Respect that ingredient.
• •The fruit is seasonal. Strawberries in winter and early spring, mango in late spring and summer, peaches when they smell sweet at the stem. If the market fruit is bad, make conchas instead. No me vengas con atajos.
• •Butter is correct for this shell. Lard makes excellent empanadas and savory doughs, but these tartaletas need the clean flavor and crisp break of butter.
• •Do not overfill the shell with crema pastelera. The fruit should sit on the custard, not swim in it. A bakery tartlet has structure.

Advance Preparation

• •The tartlet dough can be made 2 days ahead and kept refrigerated, or frozen for 1 month.
• •The crema pastelera can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated with plastic wrap pressed directly against the surface.
• •The baked shells can be made 1 day ahead and kept at room temperature in an airtight container. Assemble the tartlets the day you serve them so the shells stay crisp.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 125g)