Pear Cherry And Pine Nut Tartlets Recipes

INDIVIDUAL PEAR TARTLETS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper. On work surface sprinkled with 3 tablespoons flour, roll puff pastry to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into 6 (4-inch) rounds. Cut additional shapes, such as leaves or stars, from scraps. Place rounds on 1 cookie sheet and shapes on second cookie sheet. Refrigerate 10 minutes. Bake rounds 7 minutes; cool. (Do not prebake additional shapes.)
• In large bowl, mix brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, melted butter and lemon juice. Gently stir in pear slices.
• Arrange pear slices in concentric circles on prebaked rounds, stacking pears about 2 inches high; insert 2 skewers in top of each tart to secure pears. Drizzle with any remaining sugar mixture from bowl.
• Bake tarts and shapes 15 minutes or until shapes are puffed and golden brown. Remove shapes to cooling rack. Bake tarts 10 minutes longer or until golden brown and slightly caramelized.
• To serve, place tarts on dessert plates. Garnish with baked pastry shapes, sweetened whipped cream and nutmeg.

PEAR TARTLETS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400°F. Cut pastry into 4 squares. On ungreased cookie sheet, place pastry squares.
• Peel pear, and cut into quarters; remove seeds. Slice each pear quarter into very thin slices. Arrange pear slices over pastry squares, leaving 1/2-inch border.
• Bake about 20 minutes or until pastry is puffed and browned. Spread 1 tablespoon preserves over top of each warm tartlet to cover pears. Cool on cookie sheet 10 minutes before serving.

BRANDIED SOUR CHERRY AND PEAR TARTLETS

Steps:

• Blend together flour, salt, butter, shortening, and 2 tablespoons sugar with your fingertips or a pastry blender in a large bowl (or pulse in a food processor, then transfer to a large bowl) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Drizzle evenly with 1/2 cup ice water and gently stir with a fork until incorporated.
• Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until just incorporated, then test again. (Do not overwork mixture, or pastry will be tough.)
• Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together with scraper and divide into 2 balls, one slightly larger than the other, then flatten each into a 5- to 6-inch disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Peel, halve, and core pears. Cut pears into 1/4-inch dice, then stir together with remaining filling ingredients in a 3-quart heavy pot. Bring to a boil, stirring, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 10 minutes. Transfer filling to a shallow dish and cool to room temperature.
• Roll out smaller disk of dough into a 13-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, lifting up dough carefully and flouring surface as necessary to keep dough from sticking.
• Cut out as many rounds as possible (about 12) with 3 1/2-inch fluted cutter, transferring as cut to a wax-paper-lined baking sheet. Chill rounds until firm, about 10 minutes, before decorating. Gather dough scraps and chill 20 to 30 minutes, then reroll, cut, and chill additional 31/2-inch rounds (reroll scraps only once) for a total of 16.
• Cut out shapes from rounds with decorative cutters or a sharp paring knife, leaving a 1/2-inch border around edge, and reserve cutout pieces if desired for additional decoration. Brush tops lightly with milk. Lightly press reserved cutouts (if using) onto decorated pastry rounds and brush lightly with milk. Sprinkle remaining tablespoon sugar evenly over tops and chill while making bottoms.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Roll out larger disk of dough into a 15-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) on floured surface with floured rolling pin, lifting up dough carefully and flouring surface as necessary to keep dough from sticking. Cut out as many rounds as possible (about 12) with 4-inch cutter. Gather dough scraps and chill 20 to 30 minutes, then reroll and cut additional 4-inch rounds (reroll scraps only once) for a total of 16. Fit each 4-inch round into a tartlet pan (don't trim). Fill each tartlet with 3 tablespoons cooled filling and brush edge of pastry lightly with milk. Place decorated tops over filling in each tartlet, then press each top lightly around edge to help seal edges and trim pastry if necessary.
• Bake tartlets on a large baking sheet until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer tartlets to a rack and cool 10 minutes. To remove tartlets from pans, cover 1 hand with a folded kitchen towel and invert tartlets 1 at a time onto towel, reinverting them onto a platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.

PEAR AND DRIED-CHERRY TART

Steps:

• Make filling:
• Peel pears and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Cook pears, cherries, brown sugar, and rosemary in a 4- to 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring, until pears are tender, about 20 minutes.
• Stir together lemon juice and cornstarch in a small cup and stir into pear mixture. Cook, stirring, 1 minute, or until thickened. Transfer filling to a bowl and cool completely.
• Prepare shell while filling cooks and cools:
• Roll out larger disk of pastry dough into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface, keeping remaining disk chilled, and fit into a 10-inch round tart pan (1 inch deep) with a removable fluted rim. Roll rolling pin over top of pan to trim dough flush with rim, then lightly prick bottom all over with a fork. Chill shell 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425°F and place a large baking sheet in middle of oven.
• Roll out remaining dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface and with leaf-shaped cutter cut out as many leaves as possible.
• Fill and bake tart:
• Spoon filling into tart shell, smoothing top, and decorate with pastry leaves. Brush leaves and pastry rim with some beaten egg.
• Bake tart on preheated baking sheet in middle of oven until pastry leaves are golden, about 50 minutes. (If pastry rim gets too brown, tent rim with foil or a pie shield.)
• Cool tart in pan on a rack at least 1 hour.

PEAR TARTLETS

Steps:

• Thaw puff pastry for at least 30 minutes (or according to package directions).
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Dice pears and place in small bowl.
• Mix in cinnamon and sugar.
• Using a 3" biscuit cutter, cut 3 circles from each sheet - 12 circles total.
• Spray muffin tins.
• Place circles in prepared muffin tins and spoon pear mixture into each one.
• Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until pastry is puffy and light brown.
• Place raspberries or kiwi slices on top of tartlets and serve.
• Ntoe for Vegan use your favorite Vegan pastry dough.

PEAR, CHERRY, AND PINE NUT TARTLETS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix jam and almond extract in small saucepan. Transfer 3 tablespoons jam mixture to medium bowl. Add pear and cherries; toss.
• Using 3-inch-diameter cookie cutter, cut 9 rounds from puff pastry; discard trimmings. Arrange rounds atop baking sheet, spacing evenly. Pierce center of pastries with fork, leaving 1/4-inch edge unpierced. Brush edges with beaten egg yolk. Mound fruit mixture in center of pastries, pressing to compact. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes.
• Heat remaining jam mixture in saucepan over medium-high heat until just beginning to boil. Brush jam mixture over filling and pastry edges. Sprinkle with pine nuts. Transfer tarts to rack and cool completely. (Can be made up to 8 hours ahead. Store at room temperature.)