I am back from vacation and that means I now need a vacation just to get over the fatigue of this one! You know what I mean - from unloading the suitcases to piles of dirty laundry that need rescuing not to mention meals that must be made for hungry mouths, how is it that coming back from vacation is the exact 360 degree opposite of being on one? You go from doing nothing to doing everything in a single day!
My day has been made all the more exciting by the fact that the boys go back to school tommorrow. Yah! That'll teach me to better plan next time and not return the day before they begin school.
All said and done - Wow! Chicago ~ more on that later.
Returning home, what was lovely inspite of the loads of laundry et cetra et cetra was returning to two bits of good news. Remember those Baked Wonton Cups with Queso, Southwestern Chicken Salad & Cranberry Guacamole I posted back in May? How nice that I'm not the only one who thought that these were fabulous - Tyson foods has chosen this as their winning recipe as part of the Foodbuzz Taste Maker's Challenge and as result, I get to attend an all expenses paid trip to Foodbuzz Food Bloggers Conference 2011 in San Francisco this November. Now isn't that the kinda news to come home to?
But wait that's not all - my dear friend Angela Gunder has been featuring food blogger interviews on her wonderful website and today she has featured moi. You'll find that here.
Needless to say, I returned to many reasons for a sweet treat and got right down to it especially as load # 1 was being churned in water and detergent.
My 9 year old son peeked over the counter-top as these goodies made an exit out of the oven 30 minutes later.
"Wow, Mom they look good"! "Why'd you put the star on top'?
"No reason, I just thought they'd look cute"
"Well actually they look like Captain America's shield"
"You know what, I think you're right - they do don't they?"
"Infact you should blog these and call them Captain America tarts"
And so what moments ago may have been presented as simple raspberry crush tarts now appear before you as much more endearing Captain America tartlets.
All this because fall is here. And is making its presence known far sooner than I am prepared to welcome it. As a result, I am gearing up for the loss of berries making a weekly appearence in our home kitchen and doing my level best to squeeze in as many berry recipes as I can while these beauties still grace the aisles.
These raspberry crush tarts which take just a handful of ingredients to throw together are easy to love. How can you resist fresh raspberries and jam, filling a buttery flaky tart shell? The jam does a wonderful job cutting through the tartness of the raspberries without a cloyingly sweet, end result.
Sounds to good to be true? Well, why complicate that which is best left simple?
Gather the ingredients -
Pastry - all-purpose flour, cold butter cut into chunks, sugar, eggs, salt and chilled water.
Filling - good quality raspberry jam, fresh raspberries (not frozen) and sugar
You will also need 4 qty, 4 inch non-stick tartlet pans.
In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, add the all-purpose flour, cold butter chunks & sugar. Give it a pulse to combine.
Add the egg & chilled water and pulse for about 25 seconds till a ball has formed.
Transfer the dough ball to a lightly floured surface and using the heel of your palms, knead the dough 3-4 times. This process is called fraisage and gives that wonderful flaky crust we all crave.
Flatten dough ball between palms, lightly flour the surface, wrap it in cling wrap and refrigerate for about 30-45 minutes till it is cold (this will make it easier to roll out)
Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator, discard the cling wrap and sprinkle with 1 tbs flour. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Sprinkle some more flour on a clean surface, some parchment paper or use the back of a cookie sheet.
Begin to roll out the pastry to about 4-5 mm. Using a rolling pin, apply light pressure while rolling outwards from the center of the dough.
Every once in a while you may need to gently lift under the dough with your fingers to make sure it is not sticking. Also, turn the pastry a quarter turn every once in a while so it is rolling out uniformly. Roll the first dough ball out to a rectangle. Don't worry if the edges are frayed, tattered or generally not perfect.
Using a knife, cut the rectangle into 4 equal parts. Line each of the tartlet pans with the dough sheets. Press down so the sheet lines each pan properly with no air bubbles trapped beneath the dough.
Using a butter knife, cut away excess dough from the edge of each pan. Continue till all the pans have been lined. Run the knife between the edge of the pan and the pastry to keep the edges from sticking to the pan.
Reserve excess dough.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 deg F
Microwave the raspberry jam for 30 seconds in the a microwave safe bowl.
Add fresh raspberries. Crush the raspeberries with a fork still retaining some whole raspeberries. Add sugar and stir to combine.
Stab the pastry bottoms with a fork. Add the raspberry filling keeping a 1/4" inch gap from the top. Do not fill to the brim.
Cook's Note - The jam filling has a tendency to overflow and make quite a mess if you fill these to the brim.
Roll the reserved dough out to about 5 mm thickness (slightly less than 1/4" think) and using a cookie cutter about the same size of the diameter of the tartlett pan, cut out a shape. I have used stars but feel free to use the cookie cutters you have at hand.
Using the tip of a knife, gently lift the edge of the shape from the surface and place on top of the tartlet pan. Continue till all the tartlet pans have been topped.
Bake in a hot oven for about 22-25 minutes till the tartlets have a slight blush.
Allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Then run a knife along the edge of the tartlets. Remove from the pans and cool on a baking rack.
Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Nothing grourmet about these darlings but nevertheless they make delightful jammy treats for the little ones and they are quite favorite during holidays and afternoon tea parties.
The jam and the touch of sugar does wonders with the fresh tart raspberries. Flaky buttery crust and the sweet berries in every bite washed down with a cuppa is heaven in a bite!
Added bonus? Sure to please the fussiest of kids.
Recipe for
Raspberry Crush Tartlets
Preparation time - 15 minutes
Chilling time (dough) - 30-40 minutes
Baking time - 22-25 minutes
Serves 4 (makes 4 tartlets)
Shopping list:
1-1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 stick, 4 oz cold butter cut into chunks
1 tbs sugar
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1-1/2 tbs chilled water
Filling -
1/4 cup good quality raspberry jam
1-1/2 cup-full fresh raspberries (not frozen)
2 tbs sugar
~
4 qty, 4 inch non-stick tartlet pans
Method -
In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, add the all-purpose flour, cold butter chunks & sugar. Give it a pulse to combine.
Add the egg & chilled water and pulse for about 25 seconds till a ball has formed.
Transfer the dough ball to a lightly floured surface and using the heel of your palms, knead the dough 3-4 times. This process is called fraisage and gives that wonderful flaky crust we all crave.
Flatten dough ball between palms, lightly flour the surface, wrap it in cling wrap and refrigerate for about 30-45 minutes till it is cold (this will make it easier to roll out)
Remove the chilled dough from the refrigerator, discard the cling wrap and sprinkle with 1 tbs flour. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Sprinkle some more flour on a clean surface, some parchment paper or use the back of a cookie sheet.
Begin to roll out the pastry to about 4-5 mm. Using a rolling pin, apply light pressure while rolling outwards from the center of the dough.
Every once in a while you may need to gently lift under the dough with your fingers to make sure it is not sticking. Also, turn the pastry a quarter turn every once in a while so it is rolling out uniformly. Roll the first dough ball out to a rectangle. Don't worry if the edges are frayed, tattered or generally not perfect.
Using a knife, cut the rectangle into 4 equal parts. Line each of the tartlet pans with the dough sheets. Press down so the sheet lines each pan properly with no air bubbles trapped beneath the dough.
Using a butter knife, cut away excess dough from the edge of each pan. Continue till all the pans have been lined. Run the knife between the edge of the pan and the pastry to keep the edges from sticking to the pan.
Reserve excess dough.
Pre-heat the oven to 350 deg F
Microwave the raspberry jam for 30 seconds in the a microwave safe bowl.
Add fresh raspberries. Crush the raspeberries with a fork still retaining some whole raspeberries. Add sugar and stir to combine.
Stab the pastry bottoms with a fork. Add the raspberry filling keeping a 1/4" inch gap from the top. Do not fill to the brim.
Cook's Note - The jam filling has a tendency to overflow and make quite a mess if you fill these to the brim.
Roll the reserved dough out to about 5 mm thickness (slightly less than 1/4" think) and using a cookie cutter about the same size of the diameter of the tartlett pan, cut out a shape. I have used stars but feel free to use the cookie cutters you have at hand.
Using the tip of a knife, gently lift the edge of the shape from the surface and place on top of the tartlett pan. Continue till all the tartlet pans have been topped.
Bake in a hot oven for about 22-25 minutes till the tartlets have a slight blush.
Allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Then run a knife along the edge of the tartlets. Remove from the pans and cool on a baking rack.
Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Enjoy!
