Coconut Tarts With Prickly Pear Sauce Recipes

COCONUT TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place frozen mini tart shells on a baking sheet.
• Beat the butter, sugar, egg, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract, mixing until fully combined. Stir in the coconut. Place 1/2 teaspoon of jam into each mini tart shell, and fill the shells with about 1 tablespoon of the coconut mixture.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the shells and topping are lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

COCONUT-PECAN TART

Steps:

• For the Crust: Spray a 9-by-1-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom with cooking spray (or brush with oil). In a bowl, combine coconut, flour, and kosher salt. Stir in butter and syrup until mixture has the texture of wet sand and no dry flour remains (it should be crumbly but hold together when pinched between your fingers).
• Sprinkle evenly over bottom of prepared pan, with slightly more of mixture at edges, then press evenly into bottom and up sides of pan (since crust is thin, it's important to distribute evenly before packing down). Refrigerate until ready to use or, covered, up to 1 day.
• For the Filling: Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small saucepan, combine butter, brown sugar, cream, and kosher salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook until thickened slightly, about 2 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Transfer tart pan to a rimmed baking sheet. Pour cooled butterscotch into crust, smoothing to edges with an offset spatula. Sprinkle chocolate and pecans into crust. In a bowl, whisk together condensed milk, eggs, and vanilla. Pour over chocolate-pecan mixture.
• Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly in places, 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack 20 minutes. Carefully remove sides from pan and let cool completely (if crust is sticking anywhere along sides of pan, loosen by running a paring knife up and down in sticky spots before removing). To serve, sprinkle with flaky salt and cut into fingers.

PECAN COCONUT TART

Steps:

• Make the shell:
• In a bowl stir together the brown sugar, the oats, the flour, the baking powder, and the salt, add the butter, and combine the mixture well. Pat the mixture evenly onto the bottom and 1/2 inch up the side of a well-buttered 9-inch springform pan and bake the shell in the lower third of a preheated 325°F. oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until it is pale golden. Let the shell cool in the pan on a rack.
• Make the filling:
• In a saucepan combine the honey, the brown sugar, and the butter, cook the mixture over moderate heat, stirring, until it is smooth and the butter is melted completely, and stir in the cream. In a bowl stir together the oats, the coconut, the pecans, the sunflower seeds, and a pinch of salt, add the butter mixture, and combine the filling well.
• Pour the filling into the shell and bake the tart in the middle of a preheated 350°F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the center is just set. (The center will set completely as the tart cools.) Let the tart cool on a rack for 10 minutes, remove the side of the pan, and let the tart cool completely on the rack.
• In a small metal bowl set over a pan of simmering water melt the chocolate with the butter, stirring until the mixture is smooth, and let it cool slightly. Drizzle the chocolate mixture on top of the tart decoratively and let it set.

COCONUT TARTS WITH PRICKLY PEAR SAUCE

Steps:

• Make crust:
• Line bottom of each tart pan with a round of parchment or wax paper.
• Finely grind 1/3 cup almonds with sugar in a food processor (reserve remaining almonds for filling), then add bread crumbs and pulse until combined. Drizzle butter over crumbs and pulse until evenly moistened. Divide mixture among tart pans and press evenly over bottom and up side of each tart pan. Chill tart shells while making filling.
• Make filling:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F.
• Pierce softest eye of coconut with a metal skewer or small screwdriver and drain liquid through a sieve into a bowl and reserve. (If it tastes sweet, the coconut is fresh; if it tastes off, the coconut is rancid and should be discarded.) Bake coconut 15 minutes, then cool until it can be handled.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
• Break shell of coconut with a hammer or back of a heavy cleaver, then remove flesh with point of a strong knife, levering it out carefully. Remove brown skin with a sharp knife or vegetable peeler. Shred coconut in cleaned food processor fitted with medium-size shredding disk or hand-grate with medium-size teardrop holes of a box grater. Measure 2 1/2 cups loosely packed coconut and reserve. Transfer remaining coconut to a shallow baking pan and toast in oven, stirring occasionally, until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack and reserve for garnish. Leave oven on.
• While coconut toasts, bring reserved coconut liquid, cream, and sugar to a simmer in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Simmer, uncovered, stirring frequently, until reduced to about 1 cup, 25 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, then stir in reserved 2 1/2 cups untoasted coconut, yolks, vanilla, and reserved toasted almonds (2/3 cup) until combined well.
• Put tart pans on a large baking sheet, then spoon coconut filling evenly into shells, stirring filling in between additions to get even amounts of solids and liquid and bake until filling is set and golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool tarts on a rack.
• Make sauce:
• Wearing rubber gloves, cut a 1/2-inch slice off both ends of each pear, then make a 1/2-inch-deep incision with a paring knife down side of each pear. Peel off rind, starting from incision, and discard. Coarsely chop flesh, then purée in cleaned food processor. Force pur&eacut;e through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl using a rubber spatula.
• Bring 1 cup purée and 3 tablespoons sugar to a simmer in cleaned 1 1/2- to 2-quart heavy saucepan, stirring, then simmer briskly, stirring frequently, until reduced to 1/2 cup, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer cooked purée to a bowl, then cool to room temperature and stir in uncooked purée. Season to taste with lime juice, additional sugar, and orange liqueur (if using).
• Using tip of a paring knife, loosen edge of 1 tart crust from pan, then invert tart into your hand, removing pan, and transfer tart, right side up, to a serving plate, then repeat with remaining tarts. Serve tarts topped with dollops of crema and sprinkled with toasted coconut, then spoon sauce around tarts.