Best Brandied Sour Cherry And Pear Tartlets Recipes

BRANDIED SOUR CHERRY AND PEAR TARTLETS

Steps:

• Blend together flour, salt, butter, shortening, and 2 tablespoons sugar with your fingertips or a pastry blender in a large bowl (or pulse in a food processor, then transfer to a large bowl) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Drizzle evenly with 1/2 cup ice water and gently stir with a fork until incorporated.
• Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until just incorporated, then test again. (Do not overwork mixture, or pastry will be tough.)
• Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together with scraper and divide into 2 balls, one slightly larger than the other, then flatten each into a 5- to 6-inch disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Peel, halve, and core pears. Cut pears into 1/4-inch dice, then stir together with remaining filling ingredients in a 3-quart heavy pot. Bring to a boil, stirring, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 10 minutes. Transfer filling to a shallow dish and cool to room temperature.
• Roll out smaller disk of dough into a 13-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, lifting up dough carefully and flouring surface as necessary to keep dough from sticking.
• Cut out as many rounds as possible (about 12) with 3 1/2-inch fluted cutter, transferring as cut to a wax-paper-lined baking sheet. Chill rounds until firm, about 10 minutes, before decorating. Gather dough scraps and chill 20 to 30 minutes, then reroll, cut, and chill additional 31/2-inch rounds (reroll scraps only once) for a total of 16.
• Cut out shapes from rounds with decorative cutters or a sharp paring knife, leaving a 1/2-inch border around edge, and reserve cutout pieces if desired for additional decoration. Brush tops lightly with milk. Lightly press reserved cutouts (if using) onto decorated pastry rounds and brush lightly with milk. Sprinkle remaining tablespoon sugar evenly over tops and chill while making bottoms.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Roll out larger disk of dough into a 15-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) on floured surface with floured rolling pin, lifting up dough carefully and flouring surface as necessary to keep dough from sticking. Cut out as many rounds as possible (about 12) with 4-inch cutter. Gather dough scraps and chill 20 to 30 minutes, then reroll and cut additional 4-inch rounds (reroll scraps only once) for a total of 16. Fit each 4-inch round into a tartlet pan (don't trim). Fill each tartlet with 3 tablespoons cooled filling and brush edge of pastry lightly with milk. Place decorated tops over filling in each tartlet, then press each top lightly around edge to help seal edges and trim pastry if necessary.
• Bake tartlets on a large baking sheet until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer tartlets to a rack and cool 10 minutes. To remove tartlets from pans, cover 1 hand with a folded kitchen towel and invert tartlets 1 at a time onto towel, reinverting them onto a platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.

PEAR TART TATIN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, roll puff pastry to an 11 1/2-inch square; using a plate as a guide, cut out an 11-inch round. Refrigerate until ready to use.
• In a medium cast-iron or ovenproof nonstick skillet, combine sugar, vinegar, and 2 tablespoons water. Cook over medium heat, without stirring, until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Stir in butter. Arrange pear wedges in a circle along the edge of skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until pears are crisp-tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove skillet from heat.
• Drape chilled pastry round over pears, tucking edge under. Place a small oven-safe plate or pot lid on top of pastry; bake 15 minutes. Remove plate; continue to bake until pastry is golden brown, about 15 minutes more. Let tart cool in skillet, 15 minutes. Run a knife around edge of skillet, and carefully invert tart onto a serving plate. Serve warm.

CHERRY CLAFOUTI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 10-inch porcelain tart dish, and fill with cherries. Set aside.
• Sift flour and salt together into a large bowl. Add sugar. Gradually whisk in whole eggs, egg yolks, milk, and cream. Add vanilla-bean scrapings and kirsch; whisk to combine.
• Using a sieve, strain the batter over the cherries. Bake until puffed and browned, about 45 minutes. Let cool until warm; it will sink slightly. Dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve.

PEAR AND DRIED-CHERRY TART

Steps:

• Make filling:
• Peel pears and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Cook pears, cherries, brown sugar, and rosemary in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring, until pears are tender, about 20 minutes.
• Stir together lemon juice and cornstarch in a small cup and stir into pear mixture. Cook, stirring, 1 minute, or until thickened. Transfer filling to a bowl and cool completely.
• Prepare shell while filling cooks and cools:
• Roll out larger disk of pastry dough into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface, keeping remaining disk chilled, and fit into a 10-inch round tart pan (1 inch deep) with a removable fluted rim. Roll rolling pin over top of pan to trim dough flush with rim, then lightly prick bottom all over with a fork. Chill shell 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425°F and place a large baking sheet in middle of oven.
• Roll out remaining dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface and with leaf-shaped cutter cut out as many leaves as possible.
• Fill and bake tart:
• Spoon filling into tart shell, smoothing top, and decorate with pastry leaves. Brush leaves and pastry rim with some beaten egg.
• Bake tart on preheated baking sheet in middle of oven until pastry leaves are golden, about 50 minutes. (If pastry rim gets too brown, tent rim with foil or a pie shield.)
• Cool tart in pan on a rack at least 1 hour.

PEAR AND TART-CHERRY PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place cherries in small bowl, cover with 1 cup hot water. Let stand until cherries have softened, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, thinly slice pears. Transfer pears to a large bowl, and toss with lemon juice. Drain cherries; add to pears along with sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Toss; set aside.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out one pate brisee round to 1/8 inch thick. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie pan. Fill pie bottom with reserved cherry-pear filling, and dot with butter.
• Reflour surface, and roll out remaining piece of dough to 1/8 inch thick; place on top of filled pie shell. Crimp top and bottom edges together; cut slits across top of dough. Sprinkle the top of the pie with sugar. Bake until the crust is golden and baked through, 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

APPLE AND CHERRY TARTS

Steps:

• Pulse the flour, confectioners' sugar, and salt in a food processor until just combined. Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Add the ice water gradually and process until the dough holds together when pressed between two fingers. Form the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Lightly grease 8 cups of a 12-count muffin pan and line the pockets with strips of parchment paper hanging over the edges. These will help you lift out the tarts.
• On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry dough until it is 1/8-inch thick. Cut out 8 pastry circles, and use them to line the muffin pan cups. Cut out 8 additional circles to serve as the tart crust.
• In a medium bowl, toss together the cherries, apples, cornstarch and sugar, and spoon the mixture into the pastry cups. Top the tarts with the pastry circles, and crimp the edges together with a fork. Cut a small vent in the top of each of the tarts, brush them evenly with the egg white, and bake until they are golden, about 35 to 40 minutes.

PEAR AND SOUR CHERRY BROWN BETTY WITH BRANDY HARD SAUCE

Steps:

• To make the hard sauce, in a medium bowl set an electric mixer on high and beat the butter until fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add confectioners' sugar. When the sugar is incorporated, set the speed back to high. Add the brandy 1 tablespoon at a time and beat until combined. Beat in the nutmeg. Transfer the sauce to a ramekin or bowl, cover and refrigerate. Hard sauce can be made at least a week ahead, but allow it to come to room temperature before serving (about 20 minutes).
• To make the brown betty, heat the Cognac or brandy in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the liquid has come to a simmer, turn off the heat and add the cherries. Allow them to absorb most of the liquid, about 20 minutes.
• While cherries are standing, heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the sugar mixture for sprinkling. Add bread, butter and lemon zest. Toss until sugar has dissolved and bread is completely coated.
• In a shallow 1 1/2-quart gratin dish (or a 9-by-9-inch pan), scatter a little under half the bread cubes. Layer half the pear slices and half the cherries (along with any liquid) on top. Cover with a cup of bread crumbs and sprinkle with 1 1/2 tablespoons cider. Layer remaining pears, cherries and bread. Sprinkle top with remaining cider and reserved sugar-and-spice mixture.
• Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Take off foil and continue baking, until crumbs are golden brown and pears are very soft, about 15 minutes more. Serve warm with dollops of hard sauce.