Fruit Tartlets

I am still in the mood for making fruit tarts after the success I had earlier (I am being very modest here!)  And so when a colleague asked me to make some for her, I agreed without a second thought.  In fact, my willingness came in an instant, especially when the order was for a party which she was going to hold for a favorite "kakak" of mine who will be retiring this Friday!

For this batch of tarlets, I decided not to use the recipe I used for my Fruit Tart.  Instead, I used a combination of recipes; for the sweet pastry dough, I used a recipe by CMG (for which I got 32 tart cases) and for the custard cream, I used a recipe by Chef Alex Goh.  I even used his technique, which was better, since it resulted in a smoother and creamier custard!  Plus left over to eat in a quiet corner!  So, here are the recipes!

Sweet pastry dough

113g butter (1 stick/4oz)

75g icing sugar

1 grade A egg plus 1 yolk (I reserved the white to glaze the tart shells)

250g plain flour

Whisk the butter and sugar until creamy.  Gradually whisk in the eggs and then fold in the flour a little at a time, using a spatula.  The dough will be very soft.  Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours.  After 2 hours, take out half of the pastry and divide into two equal portions.  Roll each portion into a long cylinder and divide each cylinder into 8 equal portions.  Flatten each portion slightly and press lightly into the tart moulds.  Prick the base lightly with a fork and bake for 15 minutes in a 180C oven.
(You can prepare the tart cases up to 3 days in advance by keeping in an air-tight container)

Custard Cream

2tbs plain flour

2tbs cornflour

8tbs icing sugar

500ml fresh milk

2 grade A eggs

2tbs butter

Whisk flour and cornflour in a pot and mix about 2tbs milk.  Stir to mix thoroughly.  Beat in the eggs and the sugar and then whisk in the rest of the milk.   Cook over low fire, stirring continuously.  When custard starts to bubble, stir in the butter until the mixture turns glossy.  Transfer custard to a bowl, cover with cling film and set aside to cool.

I think the process of assembling the tartlets goes without saying.  You can refer to the picture! :-)