Friday, April 8, 2016

Springtime Cherry Blossom Tarts

by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF7830_zpsfe3hw2fv.jpg


Springtime Cherry Blossom Tarts

I found the Flower Cookie Cutter Set below at the grocery store for $1.25 & I couldn't resist!  I actually bought it a few years ago and forgot about it.  I decided to use the large flower shape as a tart cutter.  I then used the petal cutter as the cherry blossom cutter for the top crust design.  If you do not have a similar cutter set then you may use a round plastic lid as a template & then cut a flower petal template out of wax paper or parchment paper.  Or, there are other tart pans with cutters available like this:
Fancy Tart Pan & Cutter (<click title to view)

by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF7805_zpsbnczuam8.jpg


Printable Recipe


Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup butter (I use unsalted)
1/3 cup lard (see note below)
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt (omit if you are using salted butter)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (ONLY if you are making a sweet pie.  Omit the vanilla if you are making a savory pie)
4 to 5 tablespoons cold water (preferably filtered water)

1 can cherry pie filling
1 tablespoon cream
cinnamon sugar for dusting

1 twelve count muffin tin (sprayed or buttered to avoid sticking)


Stir the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  "Cut" the butter and lard into the dry ingredients until it is crumbly looking.  Now add the vanilla and 4 tablespoons of water and mix together (still use the pie cutter or fork to mix in the liquid).  Only add the 5th tablespoon of water if the dough still seems dry.  Now form the dough into a ball with your hands.


NOTE:  If you only want to use butter then you may omit the lard and use 2/3 cup butter instead.


by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF7806_zpswera53eo.jpg by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF7807_zpswabcryw8.jpg

Now you are ready to roll out the dough  - first divide the dough into 2 equal parts.  Now you must dust the rolling surface with flour and you might even need to dust more flour onto the dough half way through rolling.  Keep rolling until the dough is a little less than 1/4 inch thick.  Use your tart cutter & cut as many as you can on this rolled out piece of dough.  While the dough is rolled out - around the tart pieces use the rolled out scraps to cut your petals with the petal cutter.  Remove the cut tart pieces & gently press each one into a muffin space (see pictures above).  Remove the petal pieces from the rolling surface & set aside until later.  Continue cutting & placing in the muffin tins until all dough has been used up (I had enough to make 9 tarts - the amount will all depend on the size of your tart cutter & the thickness of your dough.  Remember to cut out enough petal pieces for each tart - you will need 4 petal pieces per tart.  So, for my 9 tarts I used used 36 petals.  Then I also used the last bit of pie crust dough to make little round balls for the middle of the flower ).


Open the can of cherry pie filling & distribute this filling into each tart crust (see picture below).



by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF7808_zpsbgsm7bjx.jpg


Begin placing the petals on top of the cherry pie filling (see pictures below)


by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF7810_zpsv3qpf7so.jpg
by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF7811_zpsz3hb6nvq.jpg by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF7812_zpsixrcr2rw.jpg


Add the little crust dough ball in the middle of each cherry blossom.


by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF7813_zpsuhagmsln.jpg


With a pastry brush - spread a little cream on top of each dough flower & dust with cinnamon sugar.


by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF7818_zps4apiu4yh.jpg


Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until desired golden brown color is achieved (see picture below).




by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF7821_zps5elwxhar.jpg


Remove the pan from the oven & place on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes.  If any filling bubbled over, gently take a dull knife and move that knife under the dough edges (be very careful!!).

IMPORTANT - If you do not spray the pan properly OR if you do not allow the tarts to cool a little then this will happen (see picture below). 



by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF7832_zpsupdlm790.jpgby Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF7825_zpsxteatupd.jpg


Dollop with a little whipping cream or just serve plain & ENJOY!



by Angie Ouellette-Tower for http://www.godsgrowinggarden.com/ photo DSCF7822_zpsjkectvgq.jpg

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2 comments:

  1. These are so very pretty I'm not sure I would want to even eat it. (I totally would though)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Angelique! What cute little cutters. My mouth's watering looking at those tarts. Thank you so much for linking up to Thriving on Thursdays last week. I'm featuring this post at tomorrow's party. Thanks so much for coming.

    Anne @ Domesblissity xx

    ReplyDelete

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