The Charmed Kitchen

Fruit Tarts

I started teaching after school cooking classes in Hudson. I’ll be working with the same 20 kids for the next month, or so. They are great. This is going to be a lot of fun.

Since it was warm yesterday, I thought it would be fun to cook with fruit.

The kids made fruit smoothies, fruit fondue- with yogurt- and fruit kebobs. BTW, kids really like putting fruit on sticks.

The highlight was when I let them know we were making miniature fruit tarts. We don’t have an oven in the room we use for class, so I baked the tarts shells at home. The kids filled them with pudding and then assorted fruits. They really enjoyed making them. Some didn’t want to eat them, so they could show their families what they had made.

Here are some of the pictures. The fruit tart recipe follows.

Eva’s Fruit Tarts

3 c. flour

1 t. baking powder

½ t. salt

1 c. butter

3 eggs

2 pkts. Yeast

½ c. warm milk

Filling:

Pudding or lemon curd plus assorted fruits for topping the tarts.

In mixing bowl, combine flour with baking powder and salt. Cut butter into flour until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Set aside.  Place eggs in a small bowl and beat until smooth. In small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add to egg mixture and stir to combine. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until combined. If mixture is sticky, add a small amount of flour. Roll dough out on floured board. Thinner the better, as this dough will puff some when baked. Cut into circles to fit small tart pans. Press into tart pans. Bake tart shells at 350 for 12-15 minutes, or until light golden brown. Thinner crusts and smaller tarts shells will bake quicker.  Remove tart shells from the oven and cool before filling. Spoon a little pudding or lemon curd in each tart, then top with assorted fresh fruits. I like berries and grapes. Makes about 4-5 dozen tiny tart shells.