I'm beginning to feel like the queen of improv with some of these delicate recipes. For one thing, I don't own a tart pan or ring, and they don't carry one in the kitchen at the coop, either. For another, since I was going to be dissecting the finished piece into tiny one-bite pieces, it seemed more logical to make the jump to tartlets, anyway. Luckily, I discovered a how-to blog with pictures online for making them in a greased muffin tin – so with this I was off and running.
I was a tad trepidatious about tackling the MANGO, KIWI, AND COCONUT CUSTARD TART. Every time I have attempted a pie with a custard filling in the past, I was unable to salvage it. I was happy that Tammy DeRusha Circeo posted a heads-up about allowing an extra 20 minutes for the cook time. Knowing that this could conceivably protect me from the soupy messes I had become familiar with in the past gave me hope. This would prove be an exercise in extreme patience and vigilance. Not only would I have to give the custard enough time to fully set, I would have to ensure that the little tartlets remained a crispy golden brown in their individual tins and did not burn! When I have employed parchment muffin liners and sprayed non-stick spray underneath in the past, this could be a danger. So I opted to follow the online suggestion to forgo the liners. I sprayed the tin directly and pressed the dough inside.
I took a shortcut and defrosted some amazing Dufour Pastry Kitchens pastry puff dough in the fridge the night before so I was ready to roll out on Saturday. I had utilized this ready-made crust for recipes in the past to perfect effect. So buttery, light and flaky did this tart base turn out, that people were in seventh heaven at first bite. (Bon Appétit magazine recommended, too!)
After checking in on the book-recommended cook time, I noted that indeed at least an extra 20 minutes would be necessary. All in all, these little cookies took a full hour to set and for the crust to come out perfect. They did prove worth the wait. The tartlets were so invitingly cute, that one customer accidentally grabbed an entire one to eat, ignoring the ready-made sampler bites to her left. She was admittedly embarrassed after realizing that my "generous samples" were really for show, before being dissected into four smaller bites.
This was a personal sweet success for me. I finally– conquered the custard.
I was a tad trepidatious about tackling the MANGO, KIWI, AND COCONUT CUSTARD TART. Every time I have attempted a pie with a custard filling in the past, I was unable to salvage it. I was happy that Tammy DeRusha Circeo posted a heads-up about allowing an extra 20 minutes for the cook time. Knowing that this could conceivably protect me from the soupy messes I had become familiar with in the past gave me hope. This would prove be an exercise in extreme patience and vigilance. Not only would I have to give the custard enough time to fully set, I would have to ensure that the little tartlets remained a crispy golden brown in their individual tins and did not burn! When I have employed parchment muffin liners and sprayed non-stick spray underneath in the past, this could be a danger. So I opted to follow the online suggestion to forgo the liners. I sprayed the tin directly and pressed the dough inside.
I took a shortcut and defrosted some amazing Dufour Pastry Kitchens pastry puff dough in the fridge the night before so I was ready to roll out on Saturday. I had utilized this ready-made crust for recipes in the past to perfect effect. So buttery, light and flaky did this tart base turn out, that people were in seventh heaven at first bite. (Bon Appétit magazine recommended, too!)
After checking in on the book-recommended cook time, I noted that indeed at least an extra 20 minutes would be necessary. All in all, these little cookies took a full hour to set and for the crust to come out perfect. They did prove worth the wait. The tartlets were so invitingly cute, that one customer accidentally grabbed an entire one to eat, ignoring the ready-made sampler bites to her left. She was admittedly embarrassed after realizing that my "generous samples" were really for show, before being dissected into four smaller bites.
This was a personal sweet success for me. I finally– conquered the custard.