Fruit Tarts

I’m not exactly the pastry queen.

If you’re wondering about the truth of this statement, check out the “pies” section. It looks pretty pathetic. So actually, don’t check out the “pies” section.

I don’t make pies because they are a lot of work, and because they aren’t my favorite thing ever.

Thinking about it now, I wonder why they aren’t my favorite thing ever, because these tarts made a pretty good breakfast.

You heard me right. I had these for breakfast. The idea struck me around 9:00 last night. I calculated how long it would take me to throw together some quick pastry, add the filling the next morning, and cook them.

Not long. Not long enough that I shouldn’t do it.

And anyway, they were worth it because I used them to bribe the sisters later. Ha.

Makes: 6 tarts.

Time: 15 minutes active, about 50 minutes cook.

INGREDIENTS:

Crust

½ cup rice flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon cold water

1 small egg

Grease WELL: 6 muffin holes.

Mix together the rice flour, cornstarch, and sugar.

Chop the 3 tablespoons butter up into small pieces (about ¼ inch thick) and incorporate into the rice flour/cornstarch/sugar mix. Use a fork to chop the butter up within the mixture.

In a small bowl or a measuring cup, combine the cold water and the egg and beat with a fork until thoroughly mixed.

Pour egg/water mix into the dry ingredients/butter mix and stir until blended.

Use about 2 tablespoons of dough for each crust. Put the dough in the hole, and use your fingers to press it into shape. You may need buy generic accutane online cheap cornstarch to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers.

Pre-cook the crusts at 350 degrees F for about eighteen minutes. This can be done a day ahead of time.

Filling

As you noticed, I made both peach and blueberry tarts. I only made two blueberry tarts and four peach ones. My favorite was the peach, but since I happen to love peaches I’m not a very good judge of which is best. I will provide both the peach and blueberry recipes. You could also make apple, raspberry, or strawberries, using typical pie-crust filling recipes (halved) for each.

Blueberry Tarts: Makes 2 tarts. Triple to fill all six tarts.

½ cup frozen or fresh blueberries

1 teaspoon honey

2 teaspoons cornstarch

If you’re using frozen berries: Thaw them out and DON’T drain the juice. If using fresh berries, simply put them in a bowl.

Using a fork, partially mash the blueberries. You obviously don’t want to make blueberry paste, but you want each blueberry “opened up”.

Add the honey and the cornstarch and fill the tarts.

Cook at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Peach Tarts: Makes 4 tarts. Half again the recipe to fill all six tarts.

1 cup frozen, canned, or fresh peaches

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1 1/2 teaspoons honey