Easy-peasy raspberry tarts with passion fruit curd

Preparing yummilicious food really IS child's play... you don't believe me? It's just about recognising where you stand in the list of skilled pastry chefs... no use working with a Pierre Herme recipe when really, your experience doesn't extend beyond smores and jell-o, believe me, I have learnt this the hard way. (I'll spare you the details, but I've seen everything from cakes exploding in the microwave to my cousin's plaits getting caught in the hand mixer...)

These tartlets are dressed to impress, but really easy to put together! A wonderful recipe for kids to get their hands dirty and feel like a proper pastry chef in the making! Bookmark it for them now for your Mother's Day treat. If you are not happy for them to use a food processor, you can put the biscuits in a plastic bag and crush them with a mallet... very soothing. If I had money to pay for a study, I'd like to see how this "therapy" performs compared to Ritalin ;-)

If you're willing to go the extra mile (like I did in this recipe), you can make some home-made passion fruit (or lemon) curd, but less experienced little chefs might just want to use the store-bought variety - the result will be equally scrumptious!

Of course, it's not just a recipe for the culinarily challenged, it is also an amazing choice when you don't have much time to slave in the kitchen or are preparing a multi-course dinner and the last thing you want to fret over is dessert... it's so quickly assembled, you definitely won't get your knickers in a twist!

Raspberry tartlets with passionfruirt curd
(yields 12)

200 g bourbon biscuits
75 g lightly salted butter (softened)
ca. 400 g raspberries
ca. 300 g passion fruit (or lemon) curd (see recipe below)
icing sugar
a few mint leaves (optional)

For the passion fruit curd:
6 passion fruits
2 large eggs
50 g butter
75 g fine caster sugar

First, prepare the passion fruit curd.

The following method will make it easier and more efficient to separate the prized juice and flesh from the large seeds: Cut the fruits in half and scoop the flesh into a small pot. Gently bring to a simmer, immediately take off the heat and continue stirring for about 5 minutes. Place a not-too-fine-meshed sieve over a bowl, pour in the passion fruit and pass the pulp through the mesh using a spatula, retaining the seeds in the sieve. Discard seeds.

In a metal bowl, combine the passion fruit with the remaining ingredients. Whisk continuously and vigorously over simmering water until the curd has thickened. This should take about 15 minutes.

Leave to cool down completely.

For the tartlet bases, process the biscuits and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles sticky breadcrumbs. Line a chopping board with grease-proof paper. Place a cookie cutter of ca. 8 cm diameter on the board, take 1 heaped tbsp of cookie mix and press down evenly to form a base, about 3 mm high. Compress as much as you can. Remove the cookie cutter using a gentle twisting motion to make sure the bases stay intact. Prepare all bases and rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up.

When ready to serve, carefully transfer the bases onto individual serving plates using a cake server, spread 1 heaped tablespoon of passionfruit (or lemon) curd onto it and top with raspberries.

Sprinkle with icing sugar and decorate with mint leaves, whole or thinly sliced.

Comments

[Andrew]

there you go again - you temptress!they look simply divine!

[Johanna]

Thanks, my dear! I am sure you'd Love them!

[DorothyShaver1]

I kinda like the sound of this recipe.. Nice Post! I love them!

[Cooking classes UK]

These look absolutely adorable and scrummy. And I love the fact that it is so easy to whip out, it's something that can be turned into a fun activity with the wee lads and lasses.

[Aishah]

I love how these rasperry tarts look and no one would even guess that they're so simple to make :)