Best Sweet Tartlet Shells Recipes

TART SHELL

Steps:

• Cream butter and sugar in a mixer with paddle. Slowly add egg yolks, beaten egg half, and vanilla. Add flour and mix until just combined. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours. Remove from refrigerator, unwrap and roll on a floured surface into a 3/8-inch thick circle. Drape into an 11 or 12-inch tart pan and press into corners. Line pastry with parchment paper and fill with dried beans or pie weights and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until light brown. While still warm, remove weights and parchment paper and brush slightly with a beaten egg white, taking care not to use too much and to only brush the inside of the shell. Let tart shell rest at room temperature until ready to fill.;

SWEET TART PASTRY

Steps:

• Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt into a bowl.
• Toss butter through flour mixture to coat pieces. Using fingertips, rub fat into flour, working it until you have created a coarse meal with a few pea-size particles of fat.
• Empty crumbs onto a cool surface. Form mixture into a mound. Make a 4 to 5 inch well in center of the mound. Combine egg and vanilla and pour mixture into the well. Using a fork, draw crumbs into egg mixture, about 1 - 2 tablespoons at a time. When all crumbs are added, toss mixture a few times with a pastry blender to form large clumps, then scrape into a mound.
• Using the heel of your hand, push 2 - 3 tablespoons of the dough at a time, outward in 6 to 8 inch sweeps. This will blend fat and flour and give crust a delicate texture. If your hand becomes sticky, flour it as needed. Repeat process until all dough has been worked. Gather dough into a mound again. Repeat procedure 2 more times.
• After third time, flour your hands. Gently knead the dough 5 or 6 times to make it smooth. Shape into a 5 inch disk. Dust disk lightly with flour, score with side of your hand, cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate for 20 minutes before shaping. DO NOT LET DOUGH BECOME TOO HARD or it will be difficult to roll. If this happens, let pastry soften at room temperature.
• Roll out to 1/8 inch thickness. After dough has been rolled, position rolling pin 4 inches from top of the pastry. Lift dough over top of rolling pin and gently roll dough toward you. Lift pastry up. Make sure you keep a finger pressed against barrel of rolling pin to keep it from slipping. Position pastry, leaving about 1 1/2 inches of dough hanging over edge of pan on side closest to you. Then unroll pastry over an ungreased tart pan, moving pin away from you. Immediately lift overhang into pan to prevent sharp edge of the pan from cutting dough.
• Working a small portion of the dough at a time, mold it into crease of the pan. Trim excess pastry from top edge of pan. Chill pastry in refrigerator or freezer for up to 30 minutes. Tear an 18 inch square of tin foil. Make a buttered circle in center of foil 2 inches larger than size of pan. Place foil buttered side down, centering it into the baking pan. Using your hand, press foil flush against the sides.
• Heat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Position shelf in lower third of oven. Fill pan with enough dried beans or baking nuggets to just cover surface of pan. DO NOT OVERFILL. Bake pastry shell on a shallow pan with sides. Bake crust 15 to 18 minutes or until sides begin to brown. Remove pan from the oven. Let stand about 30 seconds. Gently remove foil and beans. Reduce oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Continue to bake crust for 3 to 5 minutes or until it is golden. If bottom of pastry shell puffs up, tap it gently with bottom of a fork to expel the air. Do this carefully so the pastry crust doesn't break. When crust is done, cool completely before filling.

BAKED SWEET TART SHELL

Steps:

• Pulse together flour, sugar, salt, and butter in a food processor until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Add yolks and vanilla and pulse just until incorporated and mixture begins to clump.
• Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 6 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion. Gather dough together into a ball with scraper and transfer to tart pan. Pat out ball with floured fingertips onto bottom and up side of tart pan in an even 1/4-inch layer. (If mixture sticks to your fingers, spread a sheet of plastic wrap over it and pat through plastic wrap.) Prick bottom of shell all over with a fork, then chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake in middle of oven on or over a large sheet of foil (to catch any drips of butter) until sides are set and edges are light golden, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until bottom is golden and sides are golden brown, 14 to 16 minutes more. Cool shell completely in pan on a rack before filling.

SWEET POTATO TARTLETS

Steps:

• Place sweet potato in a small saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until tender. Drain., In a small bowl, mash sweet potato with butter, syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg. Place 1 tablespoon potato mixture in each tart shell. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Top with marshmallows. Bake at 350° for 8-12 minutes or until marshmallows are lightly browned.