Sift the flour into a bowl or onto a work surface and sprinkle with sugar and salt. Cut the cold butter into small cubes. Place pieces of butter on the surface of the flour mixture. Using your fingertips, rub the flour into the butter until fine crumbs form. Collect the crumbs in a heap, make a depression in the middle and pour the yolk and 1 tbsp into it. l. milk.

Using your fingertips, quickly mix the ingredients into a soft dough and form into a ball. Do not knead the dough for too long, otherwise it will become tough! If the dough crumbles, add another 1 tbsp. l. milk. Knead the dough 2-4 times until it becomes homogeneous. Form the dough into a ball, then flatten it into a disk, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, preferably 4 hours.

Place the chilled dough between two sheets of parchment and begin to roll it into a round base with a diameter 4-5 cm larger than the diameter of the mold (this recipe is designed for a tartlet measuring 24-26 cm). Roll out the dough in short movements from the center to the edges, turning the paper in a circle.

When you have a layer of uniform thickness, remove the top sheet of paper, transfer the dough into a mold with low sides and remove the second sheet of paper. Press the dough down so that it lies loosely in the pan without tension.

Crumple a sheet of baking paper and unfold it again - the paper will become soft and will not leave creases in the dough.

Cover the dough in the mold with paper and pour a load (beans or special balls) onto it. Place the pan with the dough in the oven, preheated to 190˚C, and bake the base for 15 minutes, then remove the weight and remove the paper. Return the pan to the oven and bake for another 5-7 minutes.

If you were in Paris and went to at least one pastry shop, then you probably remember that among the variety of cakes, pastries and pastries there were these berry tartlets. An extremely impressive dessert that instantly attracts attention. This is truly a classic! Very bright, quite easy to prepare, but beautiful in its simplicity =) What's in it? Shortbread dough, vanilla custard and berries. Most often, such tartlets are decorated with strawberries and covered with transparent jelly on top; there are also options with raspberries sprinkled with powdered sugar, but no one forbids the use of blueberries/blackberries/strawberries, etc. The only thing is that I would not recommend making them with sour berries or cherries, after all, this is a different combination;)

Custard

Ingredients:

2 large egg yolks
1 cup milk*
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 vanilla bean (or 1.5 tsp vanilla extract. If neither is available, use vanillin)
a pinch of salt

* 1 cup = 240 ml

1/2 portion of shortcrust pastry
170 g raspberries
170 g blueberries/blueberries
170 g strawberries

Preparation:

The above ingredients make 4 medium tartlets (8-9 cm in diameter) and 1 large tart (23 cm).

Make shortbread dough according to . Let me remind you that you need half of the proportions given there.
For cream:
In a mold, combine the egg yolks, a quarter cup of milk, half the sugar and all the cornstarch and whisk lightly. Cut half a vanilla pod in half lengthwise and carefully scrape out the seeds (I find it convenient to do this with a teaspoon). In a small saucepan, combine the remaining milk and sugar, add salt and vanilla seeds along with the pod.

Place over medium heat and, stirring, bring almost to a boil, but under no circumstances boil! Remove the pod from there and, constantly stirring the egg mixture, pour milk into it in a thin stream. Then pour everything back into the saucepan, put on low heat and, stirring, bring to a boil. At first the mixture will be liquid, because... starch will only act at high temperatures, at 88-93 C. Therefore, the cream will begin to thicken closer to boiling. Boil for 1 minute and then remove from heat. Beat the cream with a whisk or mixer at low speed for 2-3 minutes until it cools slightly. Then add the butter in several stages, beating each one until completely combined.

The finished custard should have the consistency of low-fat yogurt. Place in the refrigerator and stir every 10 minutes for an hour to prevent a crust from forming.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a floured surface. Roll it out to 3-5 mm thick and cut out circles for the molds, adding 1-1.5 cm on the sides (so that there is enough dough to cover the walls of the mold). Transfer the prepared dough circles into baking tins. Press down and prick with a fork in several places. Leave for 15 minutes at room temperature.**

** This is necessary so that during baking the dough does not “slide” down the walls, because it may still be cool after refrigeration.

Heat the oven to 180 C or 350 F. Bake the baskets until the edges are lightly browned, for 15-18 minutes. Remove from oven, cool to room temperature. Remove from pans and fill each tart with about 2 tablespoons of custard.

Top with berries and cover with clear cake jelly (I use a mixture from Dr. Oetker. Here

As a child, my favorite cakes were shortbread baskets with fruit, with a layer of custard and light jelly on top. Sweet tartlets with fruits - I learned this name only later. An amazing combination of shortbread dough and the taste of fresh raspberries, strawberries, often blueberries and grapes. Frankly, for such a dessert I didn’t even need tea, although my mother insisted.

One day it was a discovery for me that cake and tart are two different confectionery products, and not one. The original French tart is an open pie made from a certain type of shortcrust pastry, containing no added salt or sugar, baked in the form of a flatbread similar to pizza. Usually, it is easy to distinguish by the jagged edge of the side - the mark of a special baking dish.

The filling in the tart is to your taste. It can be meat, mushrooms, vegetables, fruits, berries, etc. The filling is filled with egg-cream mixture and baked. Apple tart is somewhat similar, but made from shortcrust pastry. There is a separate type of tart that is baked in small molds - these are savory or sweet tartlets. I read somewhere that once upon a time such baskets were baked directly in a wood-burning oven and called tartines.

Tartlets are designed for filling, usually sweet. But no one said that a small tart made from unsweetened dough with your favorite sandwich mixture would be tasteless. In addition, we can remember a lot of examples when baskets were used as a basis for portioned snacks of sausage, olives, salty cheese, etc.

Sweet tartlets with cream, laid with fruits and berries, under or a snow-white top of whipped cream - a luxurious dessert. Fruit baskets with custard are easy to prepare and serve as the basis for delicious desserts.

The tartlets themselves are quite “dry”. Therefore, before laying out fruits and berries, cream is poured into them - usually custard, crème anglaise, custard, less often creme brulee is prepared. By and large, these are all varieties of custard that are used to fill custard pies. Fruit tarts with custard, especially made with shortbread tartine, are a very tasty dessert and, in addition, pleasing to the eye.

Sweet tartlets. Step by step recipe

Ingredients (4 pcs)

  • Wheat flour 1 cup (130 g)
  • Egg 3 pcs
  • Sugar 3 tbsp. l.
  • Butter 30 g
  • Milk 1 glass
  • Corn starch 1 tbsp. l.
  • Gelatin 1 tsp.
  • Vanilla, citrus extract spices
  • Bananas, kiwi, grapes, etc. For filling
  1. Small tartlets up to 10 cm in size are very convenient preparations for desserts and snacks. Since the dough does not contain water, it can be stored for some time, and they can be baked in advance in the required quantity. Now they sell very convenient silicone molds, to which the dough does not stick, and shortcrust pastry baskets are baked evenly and uniformly.

    2. Shortcrust pastry for tartlets

  2. To bake four tartlets measuring 10 cm you will need 1 cup of flour, an egg and 30 grams of butter. To make the dough aromatic and slightly sweet, you need to add 2 tbsp. l. sugar and natural vanilla (you can use vanilla sugar). Sift the flour and mix with sugar and vanilla. Stir until all ingredients are evenly distributed. Add the contents of one egg and softened butter.

    Mix flour with sugar and vanilla, butter and egg

  3. Knead the shortbread dough very thoroughly. Fat and flour mix well, forming a homogeneous mass. The dough must be kneaded until the sugar dissolves due to the egg. If necessary, you can add flour in pinches. The result will be a homogeneous and soft dough. Roll the dough into a ball and put it in the refrigerator.

    Shortbread dough

    4. How to bake

  4. Silicone molds do not need to be greased. They themselves are quite “slippery”, and the shortbread dough for the baskets contains butter. Divide the shortbread dough into four parts and roll it out with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 1 cm. Place the dough in a silicone mold and smooth it along the walls with your fingers to the same thickness. Pinch off excess dough with your fingers, following the edge of the molds.

    Place the rolled out dough into the mold

  5. You can bake tartlets in a small household electric stove or oven. An electric stove is more convenient because it consistently maintains the required temperature. I bake crème brûlée in this oven, and quite successfully. Preheat the stove or oven to 180 degrees. Using a fork, carefully prick the dough at the bottom of the pan so that it does not rise during baking. Place the molds with shortcrust pastry for baking.

    Place the molds with the dough in the oven

  6. At this temperature, the shortbread dough will be ready in 15-20 minutes. You should be guided by the color of the dough - it will soon begin to brown, especially on the side that is pressed against the wall of the mold. In addition, the shortbread dough “flows” down the sides of the mold a little and sags. The height of the shortcrust pastry basket will be slightly smaller than the height of the mold - this is normal.

    Ready-made shortcrust pastry baskets

  7. Shake the finished tartlets out of the molds - they do not stick to the silicone at all. The pastry baskets must cool to room temperature; to do this, lay them out on a clean cloth.

    8. Custard for fruit baskets

  8. To prepare custard, you need regular fresh milk with a fat content of 2.5-3%. We decided not to add egg whites, although many recipes recommend it. For the custard we prepared two egg yolks, cornstarch, sugar and vanilla. In addition, for aroma and taste, we decided to add citrus extract - literally a few drops.

    For cream - milk, starch, egg

  9. In a cup mix 1 tbsp. l. corn starch, two egg yolks and 2-3 tbsp. l. milk. Mix thoroughly and leave for the starch to swell. In a small saucepan, place the remaining milk on the heat, adding vanilla and citrus extract. Add 1 tbsp to milk. l. Sahara.

    Pour starch and yolks into milk

  10. When the milk is well heated, but still far from boiling, pour in the mixture of yolks, starch and milk. This must be done by stirring the milk quite intensively with a wooden spatula. As it heats, the starch will “cook”, forming a fairly thick but still flowing custard, as for.

    Sufficiently thick custard

    11. Preparing the custard baskets

  11. Place all baked cakes on a plate or small tray. Using a spoon, pour the warm custard into each sweet tart. The cream flows well from a spoon and is convenient to distribute into baskets. You need to pour almost to the edge of the shortcrust pastry border.

    Pour cream into baskets

  12. Next, this is important, you need to cool the custard tartlets well. Place the custard baskets in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, preferably 1 hour. The custard freezes perfectly, forming a cream of a pleasant yellow hue, the consistency of which is similar to a not very dense jelly. While the baskets with cream are cooling, dilute 2-3 tbsp in a small saucepan. l. water 1 tsp. instant gelatin.

    Baskets with chilled custard

    13. Preparing a delicious dessert with fruits

  13. A set of fruits and berries to create a sweet dessert with custard - at your discretion. I only advise you not to pile up a lot of filling and use no more than 3-4 types of fruits and berries. Peel the kiwi and bananas and cut into thin slices. It is better to cut large grapes in half and remove the seeds. If you decide to add raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, just wash and dry them. It is better to cut strawberries into slices, although small berries look beautiful whole.