I can't tell you how excited I was when I saw that Dorie Greenspan herself, had chosen a tart recipe to kick off 2009 for Tuesday's with Dorie. I received 8 mini-tart pans for Christmas and was happy to put them to use so soon.
The first decision- which tart base to make? I couldn't chose just one, so I made Pistachio Sweet Tart Dough and a batch of plain Sweet Tart Dough. Something about pistachios and pears......
Dorie Greenspan chose French Pear Tart for this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe. You can find the recipe on Dorie's blog. Tuesday's with Dorie is turning 1 this month. It was started a year ago and to celebrate, Dorie chose the recipe to start off the new year. I can't tell you how amazingly delicious this tart was. Just one bite, was like a taste of heaven.
Dorie said you could use canned pears, fresh pears rubbed with lemon juice, or you could poach fresh pears in a simple syrup. I poached my fresh, just-ripe Bartlett pears and was on my way. The almond cream was interesting to make. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, since it was just butter, sugar, ground almonds, an egg and a few other things. But it worked wonders for this tart. Yum.....
Dorie also said you could glaze the finished tarts with apple jelly or give them a dust of confectioner's sugar. I had a helper with the dusting.
I had enough pears and almond cream to fill 6 mini-tarts (I think they were 4-inch pans). It was tought to get a whole pear half to fit in one tart shell, so I filled a few with too much pear and they over flowed. I decided to put a little less pear in the last few and we just ate the leftover pear pieces. Since I had 2 tart shells left to fill and a bunch of super-tiny-little-mini tart shells (which I made in my mini-muffin tin, since I had so much tart dough), I needed some other kind of filling. There were a bunch of egg yolks leftover from our Gingerbread House and Royal Icing-making fiasco, so I made Dorie's Lemon-Ginger Pastry Cream. I just steeped rounds of ginger and large pieces of lemon zest in the milk (I made it with skim milk) and piped the remaining shells full of it. I sprinkled the leftover ground pistachios and almonds over the pastry cream and we were in heaven, again. The favorite here was the Tart dough made with Pistachios-what a wonderful way to start off 2009! Go check out the Tuesday's with Dorie blogroll to see who else loved this recipe!
Coming Tomorrow- Roasted Vegetable Gratin
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31 comments:
Ooh...the pistachio crust sounds wonderful. And your leftover tarts look great. Wow. you did an outstanding job!
Those are some gorgeous tarts, but nothing is as pretty as that adorable helper. Glad you included all three pictures of her- so cute! The pistachio crust sounds amazing.
Nancy
You are right Mare -- this was a taste of heaven! Yours look perfect, just like your creations always do! Your helper is precious and did a perfect job with the dusting!
Oh my goodness! Your tarts are gorgeous! I just love them!!
Your tarts look perfect! And your helper is just the cutest little angel ever! :)
That looks wonderful Mary Ann! I'm glad it was a hit at your house- how could it now be with those beautiful, perfect little tartlets?!
My goodness, Mary Ann, you have a gift. Not only for cooking and baking, which is obvious, but also for photography and making my mouth water with your descriptions. Wow!
I wish I had thought to do pistachio.
It sounds fabulous.
Yours looks perfect. the pistachio crust sounds divine. I'm going to make this again and make the crust next time! I think I missed out not making the crust. Wasn't this tasty though!!
OK, you're officially a domestic goddess. Every time I look at your blog I'm just amazed by all of the yummy and beautiful things that you have!
I used a pistachio crust too and I loved the flavor. I love the idea of lemon ginger pastry cream. Mental note for the future.
All very, very nice, Mary Ann! Those close up pictures are really amazing!
Wow! Those look amazing! I love the pistachio idea!!! Great job!
I love the photos of your helper! Your tarts look delicious, too - this was a big hit at my house.
Those look so good! I love all the little pans!
Nice crust variation, I've done it with pistachios before as well - delicious.
Mary Anne this looks beautiful and delicious!!
Your crust sounds awesome, it all looks so good. I know I say this all the time, but I really don't know how you do it! I wish I could be a fly on the wall and just observe and learn!! Your little girl is so darn cute with the powdered sugar!
Lemon ginger pastry cream? HOLY YUM! Glad you tried the pistachio crust. I might have to give it a try next time. Love your little sugar dusting helper. She's a cutie pie!
Clara @ iheartfood4thought
Don't know whats cuter - the mini tarts or the mini helper. Nice job on the tarts. Look tasty!
Your mini tarts look great!! And your helper is adorable too. :)
These are so pretty! I've got to try the pistachio dough.
Those tarts look beautiful! I'm wasn't too sure about the filling either, but it was absolutely delicious!
These look like professional bakery style tarts and your little sous chef is darling!
Your tarts look amazing! Great photos too.
What fabulous looking tarts! Love the helper!
they look so beautiful, and so do the tarts with the pastry cream! i love pistachios too, great idea :)
I was going to comment on scrumptious tarts and then I saw your daughter's pics and all I want to comment on is how so incredibly cute she is... adorable!
Wow, Mare! Way to use up the extra tart dough!! Your daughter looks SO CUTE in those pics. Great job. Everything looks fabulous.
two great tarts in one post! dorie would be proud! :)
The mini tartlet (last photo ) is almost as cute as your pretty sous pastry chef photo. You are a very creative woman and read Dorie's book really well. Course I think you have been on this trail a while. Thinking like the master he he. Really beautiful job.
AmyRuth
One more thing I like how the crust(s) sort of are like a giant cookie that holds the yumminess. So So good
Lovely job on all the tarts~ Minis are always so much fun. Great pictures of your helper, too. =)
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