Tarts

I easily lose track of time when I am preparing pies, cakes or any other preparation that can be classified as dessert. There is something magical when I enter the kitchen, mix sugar, eggs, flour … I love to cook, you know! But make desserts is something different, it’s like a more intimate conversation with myself, so many rewards, is pure pleasure. But no, please don’t think that I mean the act of eating what I have prepared. Of course I like to taste the end result, but my satisfaction comes from the pure act of cooking, watching the transformation of ingredients, the accuracy of confectionery, the delicacy of flavors and finally, the care that should be applied at each step. I love It!

Well, as I’m on vacation until next week, my days have been a lot of tranquility and many hours in the kitchen. I’m preparing lunch and dinner, but I always find myself looking for an excuse to surrender to the pastry pleasures. And this weekend wasn’t different, I began to prepare these tartlets on Sunday and I finished them yesterday. Not because it has many steps, they can be made the same day without hurry, but I decided to divide the work among these three days, and so I could do it with all calm, interspersed with the other preparations that come out of this full activity kitchen.
On Sunday, I prepared the almond paste. On monday morning, pears. On monday afternoon, the dough and yesterday, the filling. Everything was done with tranquility and without hurry.
The tartlets were ready just in time for my afternoon snack and the aromas of cardamom and vanilla were suspended in the air like an invitation for a single cup of tea, a good book and many other adventures in the world of pastry …

Bon appétit!

Preparation time: 1 hour

Makes 8 servings

Pâte Brisée

200g flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

100g chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1 cm cubes

1 large egg, beaten to blend

About 2 tablespoons ice water

Poached Pears

1 quart (1l) water
1 1/3 cup (265 g) sugar
4 Bosc pears; peeled, cored, and quartered
3 cardamom pods
1 vanilla bean, split and scrapped

Filling

170g almond paste
2 teaspoon all purpose flour
85g (3oz) butter, cubed, at room temperature
1 large egg, plus one egg white, at room temperature
a few drops almond extract, optional
1 1/2 teaspoons rum, Calvados, or kirsch

1. CRUST: Blend flour, and salt in processor 5 seconds. Add butter, using on/off turns, blend until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 1 tablespoon ice water and blend until most clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill until firm, at least 45 minutes.

TIP: The dough could be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.

2. Preheat oven to 190ºC (375ºF). Roll out the dough into a disk on a floured surface. Transfer the dough to the tartlets molds. Transfer again to the refrigerator and let stand 15 minutes. Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until sides of crust are set, about 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

3. Poached Pears: In a large saucepan, heat the water and sugar until warm and the sugar is dissolved. Add the vanilla bean and cardamom.

Slide in the pears and cover with a round of parchment paper, with a small hole cut in the center.

Keep the liquid at a very low boil and simmer the pears until cooked through, 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the pears.

Remove from heat and let the pears cool in their liquid.

4. Preheat the oven to 180°C (375°F). Set the pre-baked tartlets shells on a baking sheet. In a stand mixer, or by hand, beat the almond paste with the flour, until smooth. Some almond pastes may be drier than others. If yours is dry, just mix until the almond paste is finely-broken up. Gradually beat in the butter, until smooth, then beat in the egg and the egg white, the almond extract, and the liquor. Divide the almond filling evenly over the tartlets shells.

Fan the pears out evenly over the almond filling, then press them in slightly.

Bake the tart for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until the almond filling between the pears has browned.

Cool slightly before serving, or serve at room temperature

Life goes quiet nice here on Canadian soil. As the summer is way too far from now and I miss it so much, I decided to publish this recipe that I made on last august, when the summer was at its peaks and rainy days was a part of life. But what I miss most is the long days, when we can enjoy good outdoor temperatures, nature and we can go outside with Praline, who is by the way super adapted and loves to walk in the parks close to our home. However, enough complaints for today, I love winter too and it is awesome to enjoy every aspect of each season of the year, is something that I didn’t have in Brazil and it is one of the best things about my new life in North America.

One of the good things about winter is I can seek new marchés, épiceries, boucheries, fromageries, etc. The Quebecois highly value what they produce here and it is very interesting that even in this time of the year the local markets, supermarkets, delis, etc., are very proud to display and sell products made nearby. Still, in winter time, most part of the products are imported, but when the spring comes, everything changes and we can enjoy the local products. Nevertheless, for now we can find the Charlevoix cheeses, the duck and foie gras of Canard Goulu farms, maple syrup made throughout the province, the smoked salmon from Fumerie Québecoise …. and so on. I could do an entire post only with the delights made here and in spite of not being Québecoise, I’m very proud of what they produce here. It is something that I really appreciate in this city!

Well, coming back to the recipe. The honey pastry cream is very simple to make, but at the same time give a very interesting result. It is not so sweet as the regular pastry cream is, but it is surely well balanced. The base is a pâte brisée dough, which you can use for another sweet or even savoury tarts, with a lemon cream it is fantastic! You can also top the tart with many kind of fruits. Be creative and use whatever you have in your home, it is an absolutely flexible recipe and I love this kind of recipes, don’t you?

So, that’s it! It feels like -18°C outside, but with this tart I could dream about sunny and hot days for long time!

See you!

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Baking time: Approximately 20 to 25 minutes

6 servings

Pâte Brisée

200g flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

100g chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1 cm cubes

1 large egg, beaten to blend

About 2 tablespoons ice water

Filling – Honey Crème Patissière

1 and 1/2 vanilla bean

30g cornstarch

75g honey

350ml milk

4 egg yolks

Melted white chocolate to assembly

Mixed berries

TIP: The dough could be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.

2. Preheat oven to 190ºC (375ºF). Roll out the dough into a disk on a floured surface. Transfer the dough to a tart dish. Transfer again to the refrigerator and let stand 15 minutes. Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until sides of crust are set, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the foil and beans. Pierce bottom of crust in several places with fork and continue to bake until the crust is golden and brown, about another 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on a rack.

3. FILLING: Put the milk in a saucepan (reserve 1/2 cup to dissolve the cornstarch). Scrape the vanilla seeds into the milk and throw in the pod. Bring just to a boil, remove from the heat, cover, and set aside to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes. Beat the yolks and honey to pale thick ribbons. Gradually whisk the milk into the egg mixture in a thin stream. Dissolve the cornstarch into the milk that was reserved, add it to the misture and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Strain and sete aside to cool with a buttered piece of waxed paper on top to prevent a skin from forming.

Beat the yolks and sugar to pale thick ribbons. Gradually beat in the flour. Whisk the milk into the egg mixture in a thin stream. Add the flavouring and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Strain and set aside to cool with a buttered piece of waxed paper on top to prevent a skin from forming. When cool, fold in the whipped cream.

4. To assembly, pincel the bottom of the crust with the melted chocolate, top the filling and cover with berries. Chill pie until serving.