A Special Thanks & Fruit Tarts

First things first.  I would like to take a moment to say a special thank you to the regular visitors that read this blog, follow me on Twitter or Facebook, and especially those in my life that I get to see or hear from frequently.  I am overwhelmed by your positive feedback, motivating & encouraging words, and most importantly your excitement for me to succeed.  

To date, there have been 387 hits on this site and I'm not including the many times I've obsessively reread posts to make sure I didn't sound ridiculous.  Visitors have been as far away as Qatar, Malaysia and even Russia.  In the blogger world I know that these statistics are nothing to brag about, but I just could not keep my happiness to myself.  I had to share my excitement and gratitude.  I also wanted to add that I'm trying to reach my goal of having at least 25 fans on my FlourBloom Facebook page.  I'm at 14 right now, so if you're reading this, have a Facebook account, and like what you see add Flour Bloom as one of your pages to follow.  


Now, on to this week's reflection.  I have successfully completed my first month of school and can definitely see that I have grown in just this short period.  This past week I have had to endure two practicals and have managed to turn nervous energy into productivity.  I can happily say that my pepper jack jalapeno biscuits & pumpkin bread earned me an A minus; however, the verdict is still out on my creme brulee and tarts.  Monday I will have to assemble everything and then present them for a grade.   Compared to my very first day in class I have unquestionably learned my way around the kitchen, become more organized and methodical in my actions. 


This progress has helped prepare me for this week's lessons.  Week 4 was filled with learning how to make tarts, baklava, and strudel.  Although the days were not void of the Chef's constant tirade, I thoroughly enjoyed practicing the techniques for these desserts.  I had never made any of them before so everything was new to me.   This post will focus on tarts, but later this weekend I will talk about the baklava and strudel.


The tart dough is what is called Pate Sucree (pot-soo-cray) which is prepared by using the creaming method versus the biscuit method that is used to make typical pie doughs.  The dough resembles a cookie crust and is made with butter, powdered sugar, eggs, and flour.  It can be fickle to work with so I'm not comfortable posting the recipe.   If you'd like to try it though, email me at flourbloom@gmail.com and I'll send it to you.   Instead of using the pate sucree as dough, you can substitute a mini graham cracker crust for these tarts.  It's much easier to work with and just as tasty.


My tarts were filled with a lemon curd & marscarpone filling.    The lemon curd is simply to die for and is so versatile.  Recall that last week I used it to top my lemon cheesecake.   It can also be added to buttercream frostings or you can substitute oranges for the lemon.  Since spring is almost near this is a perfect filling to have.  I also made a tart filled with pastry cream.   I have included the recipes for both of them below.

Lemon Curd

6 oz     Lemon Juice

4          Whole Eggs

1          Egg Yolk

12 oz   Sugar

4 oz     Butter


1.  Whisk together all ingredients except butter
2.  Cook on medium heat until mixture become thick.  Stir constantly.
3. Once thickened, remove from heat and add butter.  Using a chinois or metal strainer, sieve the mixture.  This is necessary because the eggs will coagulate as the mixture thickens and sometimes egg white will cook.  Sieving also smooths out the filling.  Place lemon curd in bowl and cool on a ice water bath.  
* For fruit tarts filling, you can also whip in 2-3 ounces room temperature marcarpone into the cooled lemon curd.

Pastry Cream

8 oz     Whole Milk

1 oz      Sugar

1           Whole egg, plus 1 egg yolk

.75 oz   Cornstarch (this must be weighed; otherwise filling won't thicken properly)  

1 oz      Sugar

1/2 oz  Butter

3/4 tsp Vanilla extract

1.  Warm milk and 1 oz of sugar in a saucepan.  Heat until it reaches boil.

2.  With a whisk, beat egg yolks and egg together until smooth.

3.  Whisk together cornstarch and sugar and add to eggs.  

4.  Once milk begins to steam, slowly add milk mixture to eggs, whisking the mixture together until thoroughly incorporated.

5.  Return mixture to pan and heat until mixture reaches a boil and thickens.  Stir constantly

6.  Once mixture thickens, remove from heat and add butter and vanilla.  Stir until combined.  Place on a water bath to cool.  Be sure to cover with plastic wrap.  Plastic wrap should touch the surface of the pastry cream to avoid condensation.  

* To make Diplomat Creme, fold  in homemade whipped cream into pastry cream. Diplomat Creme is used to make creme puffs as well as tart fillings.

Apricot Glaze

Something I have always wondered about tarts was what exactly was brushed on the fruit that made them so shiny and beautiful.  The secret is to brush the apricot glaze over the fruit.  Not only does it make the tart look cute, it's purpose is to keep the fruit in place. Here's a simple recipe for your fruit tarts:


4 oz     Apricot Preserves

1 oz     Water

1.  Combine preserves and water into a heavy sauce pan.  Bring to simmer and cook until the preserves are melted and well mixed.  Simmer until reduced and thickened slightly.

2.  Run glaze through sieve to remove any lumps.

3.  Using a pastry brush, lightly brush glaze over fruit.  

Now that you have filling options and the glaze mixture all you need to do is gather some fresh berries and start assembling your tarts.  I hope these recipes get you in the mood for spring!  Happy baking!