Individual Grape Tarts Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 2 tablespoons ice water; process until mixture just comes together when squeezed (add more water if necessary). Add oats; pulse to combine.
• Press dough onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Remove sides of pan; cool crust.
• Whisk cooled pastry cream until smooth. Spread evenly in crust; arrange grapes on top; press in.
• Chill at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. Just before serving, dust with confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly floured work surface, unfold pastry. Cut into 4 squares (4 3/4 inches each). Transfer to a rimless baking sheet. Using the tip of a paring knife, score a 1/2-inch border around edges of squares, being careful not to cut all the way through pastry. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Whisk together egg yolk and cream; set egg wash aside. Toss together grapes, granulated sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Divide grape mixture among tart shells, keeping it inside the borders. Brush edges of tarts with egg wash, and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Bake until pastry is crisp and golden and grapes are just beginning to collapse, 23 to 27 minutes. Let cool on sheet on a wire rack.

Steps:

• Make the tarts: Pulse the flour, granulated sugar and salt in a food processor until combined. Add the shortening and about one-quarter of the butter and pulse until they disappear into the flour, about 30 seconds. Add the remaining butter and pulse a few times, until the mixture looks like coarse meal with pea-size bits of butter. Add 1/2 cup ice water and pulse once or twice, until the dough just comes together. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, form into a disk and wrap tightly; chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day. (For quicker tarts, use refrigerated pie dough and skip this step.)
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 10-by-14-inch rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out ten 4-by-3-inch rectangles using a toaster pastry press or a paring knife. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Chill at least 15 minutes.
• Spread 5 of the dough rectangles with a heaping tablespoonful of jelly each, leaving a 1/2-inch border all around. Brush the edges with the beaten egg, then cover with the remaining 5 dough rectangles. Crimp the edges with a fork or use the toaster pastry press to seal. Chill at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Bake the tarts until flaky and golden, 20 to 25 minutes, brushing with the milk after 10 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
• Meanwhile, make the glaze: Bring the granulated sugar, orange juice and liqueur (if using) to a simmer in a large skillet over low heat; cook until reduced by half, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the confectioners' sugar until smooth. Let cool. Brush the glaze on the tarts, sprinkle with the orange zest and let set, 5 minutes.

Steps:

• Pate Brisee Extra: Pulse flour, granulated sugar, and salt in a food processor to combine. Pulse in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With machine running, add egg yolk and ice water in a slow, steady stream just until dough holds together. Divide dough in half; shape each half into a flat disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 2 days.
• Filling: Bring grapes and 1/2 cup water to a simmer in a saucepan, mashing occasionally with a potato masher, until fruit is very soft. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a heatproof bowl.
• In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, combine grape juice, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and salt. In a small bowl, stir together cornstarch and remaining 1 tablespoon water. Add to juice mixture and cook, stirring frequently, until it reads 221 degrees on a candy thermometer. Transfer to same heatproof bowl; let cool completely, stirring occasionally. Filling can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 1 month.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out each disk of dough to a 1/8-inch-thick round. Transfer one round to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Fit remaining round into a 9-inch round fluted tart pan with removable bottom; trim flush with rim. Freeze both rounds until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Using the wide base of two pastry tips (3/4 inch and 1 inch), cut clusters of holes in dough round on baking sheet to resemble a bunch of grapes. Using a sharp paring knife, cut a stem at the top. Return to freezer until firm.
• Assembly: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread filling over dough round in tart pan. Whisk together egg and 1 tablespoon water. Brush edges of dough with egg wash. Slide remaining dough round on top, centering the design. Press edges to seal, and trim excess dough. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar. Place tart pan on a baking sheet.
• Bake 30 minutes, then remove from oven and gently tap sheet on counter to release any air bubbles. Continue baking until golden brown and bubbling, 15 to 20 minutes more. Transfer sheet to a wire rack; let cool completely. Unmold tart; serve with creme fraiche.

Steps:

• Stir flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter or 2 knives until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces the size of small peas. Mix in water with a fork just until the dough comes together.
• Toss berries, sugar, flour, and salt together in a bowl to make the filling. Set aside at room temperature.
• Lightly butter or grease 14 muffin cups. Place some dough in each muffin cup and press it against the bottoms and sides to create tart shells that are 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick. Divide berry filling evenly among the tart shells.
• Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Refrigerate tarts for 15 minutes while the oven preheats.
• Bake tarts in the preheated oven until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling, 15 to 18 minutes.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set out two 6-ounce ramekins.
• Place puff pastry sheet on a work surface and let thaw for just 5 minutes; it should still be partially frozen and very firm. Use a round pastry cutter the same diameter as your ramekins to cut out 2 rounds of dough. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Prick each pastry round all over with a fork.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the pastries are puffed up and the bottoms are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and slide parchment paper off the baking pan onto a work surface; press warm pastries down lightly with the back of a fork to deflate them a bit. Let cool.
• Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Mix brown sugar, white sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, and a very small pinch of salt together in a bowl.
• Use 1 1/2 teaspoons butter to generously grease the bottom and sides of each ramekin. Spoon the sugar mixture evenly into each ramekin, reserving about 1 1/2 teaspoons for later. Shake ramekins gently to settle and flatten the sugar mixture.
• Fill a bowl with 3 cups cold water. Add lemon juice.
• Turn one apple on its side; trim about 1/4 inch off the top and bottom of the apple, then cut it in half through the center. Repeat with the second apple.
• Peel around the apple halves to remove the peel; discard. Continue to peel the flesh, making ribbons as long and as thick as possible until you reach the core, letting the ribbons drop into the water. As long as your ribbons are 3- to 4-inches long, that's fine.
• Pull out 3 to 4 of the longest ribbons and line them up on a work surface into one long ribbon, overlapping the ends an inch or so. Roll the ribbon up tightly to form the center of the tart, then turn it up on its end. Coil more ribbons around the center, overlapping as you go, until you have a coil that's the same diameter as your ramekin. Pick up the apple coil and place it into the ramekin, with the flat side on top of the sugar. Repeat to make the second tart.
• Dot 1/2 teaspoon butter over each tart, then sprinkle with the remaining sugar mixture. Top each tart with a pastry round, placing the fork-poked side down on the apples.
• Bake in the preheated oven until pastries have browned and juices are bubbling, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and press the hot pastries down gently with a fork. Let cool for about 10 minutes.
• Run a knife around each pastry, then turn over onto serving plates. Use a spoon to go around each tart to separate the layers and create more definition, if desired.

Steps:

• Make tart shells:
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Pulse pecans with brown sugar in a food processor until finely ground (do not allow to become a paste). Add flour, butter, cinnamon, ginger, and salt and pulse until mixture begins to form large lumps. Divide mixture between tart pans and press evenly over bottom and up sides with floured fingers. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Bake tart shells in lower third of oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Transfer shells in pans to racks to cool completely. Carefully remove sides of pans, keeping shells on pan base.
• Make filling while shells cool:
• Simmer Port and jelly, stirring occasionally, until reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, about 30 minutes, then stir in lemon juice. Immediately toss grapes with 1 cup glaze in a large bowl until well coated, then mound in tart shells.
• Just before serving, drizzle tarts with more glaze and serve remainder on the side.