PLEASE NOTE: This recipe makes 12 tartlets (for use with 3 to 3.5” tart pans)
These tender little tart shells are crisp at the edges and melt-in-the-mouth at the center. They’re built on a shortbread-style pâte sablée (pronounced pat sah-BLAY). My mom is French, so I know a few words. Pâte sablée is a French shortbread-style tart crust that bakes up tender and buttery with a ‘sandy’ crumb, more like a delicate cookie than a pie crust texture.
It’s a slightly sweetened with confectioners’ sugar and enriched with an egg yolk. A whisper of almond extract if you have that, and/or vanilla powder takes them from “home baking” to “French bakery,” –> think impress the gang with one bite! But those two additions are completely optional. Before filling, a thin swipe of warm apricot (or other flavor) jam protects the crust before you add your pastry cream, AND it adds just the right touch of brightness! These are so good they don’t need any filling at all.
Ingredients
1½ cups all-purpose flour
⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons cold milk
¼ cup apricot jam, warmed and thinned with 1 teaspoon water (not tablespoons)
Optional: ⅛ teaspoon almond extract (stir into the milk)
Optional: ¼ teaspoon vanilla powder or 1 TEA vanilla extract (whisk into the flour)
Instructions to make the tartlet shells
Fist Make Dough
-
Add flour, confectioners’ (powdered) sugar, and sea salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (not the dough hook). If using, add the vanilla powder here. Mix briefly to combine.
-
Add the cold butter pieces and mix on low until the mixture looks sandy with small pea-size bits throughout.
-
In a small cup, whisk the egg yolk with the cold milk. If you have it, add the almond extract.
-
Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and mix just until the dough comes together.
-
If dry, add 1 teaspoon more milk at a time, only as needed. It’s so dry out here in Colorado, I had to use 2 full TBSP to get mine to fom a perfect dough!
-
-
Turn dough out, gently bring it together with clean hands. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it for 30 minutes to relax the dough, and help the edges stay sharp during baking. When ready to bake, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces (about 30–32 grams each).
Shape and Blind Bake
-
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
-
Press each portion of chilled dough into a 3–3½” tart pan, working the dough up the sides evenly. Dock the bottoms with a fork.
-
Freeze the shaped shells for 10 minutes. Doing this is important, especially if pressentation matters to you. The freezing prevents shrinking.
-
Line shells with parchment and fill with pie weights, beans, or uncooked rice.
-
Bake 14–16 minutes, or until the edges are light golden.
-
Remove weights and parchment and let those little guys cool completely before unmolding and filling.
Apricot Barrier Layer
This next step is one that only the pros do! It keeps the crust crisp and adds a subtle shine and flavor boost. You don’t have to do this part, but I highly recommend it. It’s simple and fast too.
-
Warm your apricot jam with 2 teaspoons water until spreadable. You can microwave it for 10 seconds if you need to. (It should be tacky, not runny. Some people like to strain the jam at this point to get bigger chunks out so feel free to do that if you’d like.) Brush a very thin layer over the inside of each cooled tart shell. Let set for 5 minutes before adding pastry cream or fillings.
Serving + Storage
-
-
These shortbread tarts are best served the day they’re filled. In fact, I’d fill and serve them within 3 hours of making them if possible. I certainly wouldn’t fill them and hold for a day or two because they won’t be that good anymore.
-
Unfilled shells will keep up to 3 days at room temp in an airtight container.
-
They can be frozen (unfilled) for up to 2 months which is nice if you want to fill them and serve them for guests that are coming for the holidays. Just thaw completely before using.
-
Suzy Cohen, has been a licensed pharmacist for over 30 years and believes the best approach to chronic illness is a combination of natural medicine and conventional. She founded her own dietary supplement company specializing in custom-formulas, some of which have patents. With a special focus on functional medicine, thyroid health and drug nutrient depletion, Suzy is the author of several related books including Thyroid Healthy, Drug Muggers, Diabetes Without Drugs, and a nationally syndicated column.
