No, i'm not talking about me or any other lady you know!
I made these tarts for a dinner we went to a couple of weekends back. The recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart Pies cookbook, but you can also find a version
here.
At first I was a bit intimidated to make pastry cream, but it was actually really easy. Once made, I just piped it into my prepared tartlet shells (courtesy of Tenderflake) and topped with fruit and a mango jam glaze!
My only recommendation is don't make this recipe unless you're prepared to eat all of the tarts that day. They're really not that great refrigerated and consumed the next day.
Pastry Cream
2 cups milk
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup corn starch
3/4 cup whipped cream
1. Whisk egg yolk until smooth in a large bowl. In small pot mix sugar and cornstarch, slowly add milk and vanilla, cook on medium stirring constantly until mixture thickens and begins to bubble (too me about 8 minutes)
2. Temper the eggs by whisking in 1/3 of the milk mixture into the egg yolks. Pour egg mixture into remaining milk in pot, whisking until mixture comes to full boil and is thick (2-5 mins). Remove from heat
3. Strain mixture through a fine sieve, cover with parchment and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (I did a full day). Right before you use, whisk to soften and then fold in whipped cream to make it extra light!
For Tarts
1. Prepare shells as per directions...you could make your own as well, let cool
2. Rinse and let your berries dry
3. Pipe or spoon pastry cream into tartlet shells
4. Arrange your fruit as desired
5 Sprinkle with powdered sugar or brush with apricot or mango jam (that's been heated so it's of runny consistency)
Ta Da!