Best Sour Cherry 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.

SOUR CHERRY TARTLETS

Steps:

• Make pastry:
• Mix first 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Add butter. Rub in with fingers until butter is size of small peas. Add egg; mix until dough comes together. Gather into ball. Shape into 5-inch-long log. Wrap in waxed paper; chill 1 hour.
• Make pastry cream:
• Whisk yolks and 1/4 cup sugar in heavy small saucepan. Whisk in flour, then milk. Add lemon peel. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, whisking constantly. Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla. Transfer to bowl. Press plastic wrap onto surface. Chill until cold, about 1 hour. (Pastry and pastry cream can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut dough into twenty 1/4-inch-thick slices. Roll out 1 dough slice between sheets of floured plastic wrap to 3 1/2-inch round. Transfer to 3-inch-diameter tartlet pan with 1/2-inch-high sides. Repeat with 9 more dough pieces and tartlet pans.
• Remove lemon peel from pastry cream. Spoon 1 tablespoon pastry cream into each crust. Top each with 2 teaspoons jam. Roll remaining 10 dough pieces out between sheets of floured plastic wrap to 3 1/2-inch rounds. Place 1 round atop each tartlet. Pinch dough edges together to seal.
• Place tartlets on baking sheet. Bake until pastry is golden on top, about 30 minutes. Using small knife, loosen tartlets from pans. Remove from pans. Transfer to rack; cool. Sift powdered sugar over.