Sweet Potato Tartlets Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425°F. In large bowl, mix flour and 1 teaspoon salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).
• Divide pastry in half. Roll each half into 13-inch rounds. Using individual 4 1/2-inch foil tart pan as a guide and cutting 1/2 inch wider all the way around, cut each pastry round into 4 (5-inch) rounds. Fit pastry rounds in bottom and just up to top edge of 8 individual 4 1/2-inch foil tart pans. Place tart pans on large cookie sheet. Bake tart shells 3 to 4 minutes or until dry; cool.
• Cut pastry scraps into small leaf shapes or other fall shapes. Place cutouts on another cookie sheet; sprinkle with small amount of granulated sugar if desired. Bake 6 to 7 minutes or until golden brown; cool.
• In food processor, place sweet potatoes and 2 tablespoons reserved syrup. Cover and process until smooth. Spoon into large bowl. Add brown sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Beat with wire whisk until smooth. Stir in evaporated milk. Pour into partially baked tart shells.
• Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Bake 25 to 35 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Remove from pans. Place on individual dessert plates. Garnish with pastry leaves and whipped topping.

Steps:

• To make filling: Heat oven to 400 degrees. Prick potatoes. Place on baking sheet; bake about 40 minutes, or until soft. When cool enough to handle, peel and mash.
• Transfer mashed potatoes to an electric mixer; beat on low speed for 1 minute. Whisk together egg, cream, molasses, and vanilla. Add to potatoes; mix on low speed, 1 to 2 minutes. Mix in remaining filling ingredients. Let stand until crusts are ready.
• To make the topping and crust: Begin by making pecan praline. Place 1/2 cup pecans on a large parchment-lined baking sheet. In a small heavy saucepan, combine granulated sugar and 2 tablespoons water. Cook over low heat until sugar dissolves. Cover and bring to a boil. Leave cover on until condensation washes down insides of pan. Uncover, adjust heat to medium, and cook, swirling pan occasionally, until sugar turns amber. Pour caramel over pecans; let cool about 1 hour. Chop praline into small pieces.
• Meanwhile, heat oven to 350 degrees. In a baking pan, toast remaining 3/4 cup pecans for about 7 minutes, turning once. Let cool completely. Transfer to a food processor, and process to a fine powder; add butter, brown sugar, flour, salt, and cinnamon. Pulse until well combined.
• Set aside 1/2 cup of the mixture to use for topping. Divide the rest among 3-inch tart tins; press into tins. Refrigerate on a baking sheet for 30 minutes. Prick crusts with a fork, and bake 5 minutes.
• Transfer tart tins to a work surface, and divide sweet-potato filling evenly among them. Crumble reserved topping into small pieces between your fingers, and mix in half the chopped pecan praline. Sprinkle this topping over sweet-potato filling, avoiding edges of the crust. Place tarts on a baking sheet, transfer to oven, and bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until tarts are puffed and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool 15 to 20 minutes, then unmold and let cool to room temperature. Sprinkle remaining pecan praline over tarts, and serve.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, mix together butter and brown sugar until it becomes a sand-like texture. Add eggs and beat with electric mixer. Add whipping cream and vanilla extract; mix until smooth. Add in flour, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg.
• Scoop out the inside of the sweet potatoes and transfer them to a medium bowl and mash. Once mashed, add potatoes into the flour mixture and blend with electric mixer.
• Roll out the dough and with tartlet pans, divide the dough into 12 (4-inch) rings. Spray the tartlet pans with nonstick cooking spray and insert dough. Cut off excess dough with a knife.
• With an ice cream scooper, scoop out potato mixture; about 1/4 cup each and place into tartlet pans.
• Bake for 30 minutes. Once cooled, garnish with whipped cream.

Steps:

• Make the crust: Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor to mix. While pulsing, drop the butter through the feed tube. Continue pulsing, scraping the bowl occasionally, until the mixture looks like coarse meal dotted with small and large chunks. Add water a little at a time, mixing in short and longer pulses between additions, until bumpy curds form. They should hold together when pinched. Press the dough into a ball, then flatten into a disk and place between parchment paper.
• Roll the dough into a circle a bit larger than 11 inches in diameter, then trim to 11 inches; prick all over with a fork. Refrigerate between parchment on a baking sheet for at least 2 hours (or freeze for 1 hour).
• Center a rack in the oven and heat oven to 400 degrees.
• Cover the chilled crust (still between parchment on the baking sheet) with another baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, remove the top baking sheet and parchment paper and bake for another 8 minutes or so, until lightly golden. Set aside. (You can make this up to 8 hours ahead.)
• Make the galette: In a medium bowl, with a flexible spatula, beat together the cream cheese, Parmesan, milk, 2 teaspoons maple syrup, 1 teaspoon chile powder and the salt. Taste and add more chile, if you'd like. (It will get hotter when it bakes.) Cut the potato and the apple into very thin rounds using a mandoline or sharp knife.
• While you don't want the cheese mixture to completely cover the crust, you do want the potato and apple slices to go right to the edge of the crust, so spread the cheese mixture over the crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Then, cover the entire crust with the potato and apple slices in slightly overlapping concentric circles. (You may have some slices left.) Mix together the remaining 1 tablespoon of maple syrup, the oil and 1/4 teaspoon chile powder. Brush this mixture over the galette (just gloss the top - you might not need all of the mixture). Sprinkle with Parmesan and pecans, if using.
• Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are softened and cooked through (test with the point of a knife). Scatter with chives, if using, and let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. The galette is also good warm or at room temperature.

Steps:

• In a food processor, combine the flour, brown sugar, butter and pecans. Cover and pulse until blended. Add egg, pulsing until mixture forms a soft dough. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of a 9-in. fluted tart pan with removable bottom. , Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce heat to 350°., Drain sweet potatoes, reserving 1/4 cup liquid. Place potatoes in a food processor; cover and process until pureed. Add the brown sugar, milk, egg whites, yogurt, flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and reserved liquid; cover and process until blended., Pour into crust. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Store in the refrigerator. Garnish with whipped topping if desired.