Coconut Tarts With Prickly Pear Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place frozen mini tart shells on a baking sheet.
• Beat the butter, sugar, egg, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract, mixing until fully combined. Stir in the coconut. Place 1/2 teaspoon of jam into each mini tart shell, and fill the shells with about 1 tablespoon of the coconut mixture.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the shells and topping are lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• In a small saucepan simmer the coconut, sugar, water, butter, and salt for 15 minutes.
• In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Blend the butter into the flour and salt mixture with a fork until it becomes crumbly.
• Stir in the lightly beaten egg yolk and iced water and mix until the dough forms a ball. Add iced water a tablespoon at a time if mixture is too crumbly.
• Press the dough into a 9-inch pie dish. Spread the apricot jam over the base of the pie crust.
• When the coconut mix has cooked for 15 minutes, remove from the heat and stir in the lightly beaten eggs yolks, vanilla, and almond extracts. Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then fold into the coconut mix.
• Spoon the filling into the pie crust and bake for 40 minutes, or until the coconut filling has set and is turning golden brown. Serve hot.

Steps:

• Cut a 1/2-inch slice off both ends of the prickly pears, then make a 1/2-inch deep incision down the side of each one. Carefully (remember there are little stickers) peel off the rind, starting from your incision: The rind is thick, and, if the fruit is ripe, will peel easily away from the central core. Roughly chop the peeled prickly pears, puree in a food processor or blender, then press through a fine strainer into a bowl. There should be about 3 cups.
• In a medium-size (2- to 3-quart) saucepan, combine 2 cups of the puree with 1/3 cup sugar, and simmer rapidly over medium to medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until reduce to 1 cup. Cool.
• Combine the cooked mixture with the remaining1 cup of uncooked puree in a small bowl. Taste and season with lime juice, orange liqueur and additional sugar if needed.
• Advance Preparation:
• Covered and refrigerated, the sauce will keep about a week. The finished sauce (as well as the prickly-pear pulp) also can be frozen.

Steps:

• Make crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, pulse flour, butter, sugar, and salt until moist crumbs form; transfer to a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. With floured fingers, press evenly into bottom and up sides of pan. Freeze until firm, 15 minutes.
• Prick crust all over with a fork. Bake, until golden, 25 minutes, pressing down with a spoon if it puffs up; cool completely. Leave oven on.
• Make filling: Spread 3/4 cup coconut on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until golden, tossing occasionally, 5 to 7 minutes. Set toasted coconut aside.
• In a medium saucepan, heat 2 cups of the milk and remaining 3/4 cup coconut until milk just begins to simmer. Remove from heat, cover; let stand 10 minutes. Strain through a sieve, and return milk to saucepan; discard coconut.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, egg yolks, and remaining 1/2 cup milk until blended. Gradually whisk into saucepan.
• Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, whisking constantly until mixture begins to thicken, about 3 minutes. Cook, whisking, 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl, add vanilla. Cover and refrigerate until cool, 45 minutes.
• In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, beat cream on medium until soft peaks form.
• To assemble the tart. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of toasted coconut in crust. Spoon on cooled filling, mounding slightly in center. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup coconut on filling; top with whipped cream, and garnish with remaining 1/4 cup coconut. Refrigerate until ready to serve, at least 30 minutes. Remove sides of tart pan, and slice.

Steps:

• Make crust:
• Line bottom of each tart pan with a round of parchment or wax paper.
• Finely grind 1/3 cup almonds with sugar in a food processor (reserve remaining almonds for filling), then add bread crumbs and pulse until combined. Drizzle butter over crumbs and pulse until evenly moistened. Divide mixture among tart pans and press evenly over bottom and up side of each tart pan. Chill tart shells while making filling.
• Make filling:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
• Pierce softest eye of coconut with a metal skewer or small screwdriver and drain liquid through a sieve into a bowl and reserve. (If it tastes sweet, the coconut is fresh; if it tastes off, the coconut is rancid and should be discarded.) Bake coconut 15 minutes, then cool until it can be handled.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
• Break shell of coconut with a hammer or back of a heavy cleaver, then remove flesh with point of a strong knife, levering it out carefully. Remove brown skin with a sharp knife or vegetable peeler. Shred coconut in cleaned food processor fitted with medium-size shredding disk or hand-grate with medium-size teardrop holes of a box grater. Measure 2 1/2 cups loosely packed coconut and reserve. Transfer remaining coconut to a shallow baking pan and toast in oven, stirring occasionally, until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack and reserve for garnish. Leave oven on.
• While coconut toasts, bring reserved coconut liquid, cream, and sugar to a simmer in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Simmer, uncovered, stirring frequently, until reduced to about 1 cup, 25 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, then stir in reserved 2 1/2 cups untoasted coconut, yolks, vanilla, and reserved toasted almonds (2/3 cup) until combined well.
• Put tart pans on a large baking sheet, then spoon coconut filling evenly into shells, stirring filling in between additions to get even amounts of solids and liquid and bake until filling is set and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool tarts on a rack.
• Make sauce:
• Wearing rubber gloves, cut a 1/2-inch slice off both ends of each pear, then make a 1/2-inch-deep incision with a paring knife down side of each pear. Peel off rind, starting from incision, and discard. Coarsely chop flesh, then purée in cleaned food processor. Force pur&eacut;e through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl using a rubber spatula.
• Bring 1 cup purée and 3 tablespoons sugar to a simmer in cleaned 1 1/2- to 2-quart heavy saucepan, stirring, then simmer briskly, stirring frequently, until reduced to 1/2 cup, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer cooked purée to a bowl, then cool to room temperature and stir in uncooked purée. Season to taste with lime juice, additional sugar, and orange liqueur (if using).
• Using tip of a paring knife, loosen edge of 1 tart crust from pan, then invert tart into your hand, removing pan, and transfer tart, right side up, to a serving plate, then repeat with remaining tarts. Serve tarts topped with dollops of crema and sprinkled with toasted coconut, then spoon sauce around tarts.