Category Archives: Fig Pastry

A Birthday Present to Myself

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I had a blackberry tart similar to this one at KAB in Vermont and wanted to try my hand, It was a great time making the tart shells (four times) until they were acceptable. (I used the rejects for my QC Cadre as they tasted great although not perfectly formed.

I followed the tart process from Hanbit Cho on YouTube. He explains everything very well (like Sally.) The cream cheese whipped cream is from Sally and the blackberry gel base is my own concoction.

Undecorated Base Tarts
Finished Decorated Tarts

Tart Crust – Hanbit Cho

INGREDIENTS
• 100g RT Unsalted Butter
• Salt a pinch
• 72g Powdered Sugar
• 29g Almond Powder
• 30g Corn Starch
• 1 Egg (36g)
• 170g Cake Flour

METHOD

  1. Beat the room temp. butter lightly (add in salt).
  2. Sift in powdered sugar, almond powder and corn starch. Beat lightly.
  3. Add the RT eggs gradually and mix.
  4. Finally, add in the cake flour and mix well.
  5. Using a bench knife, “Fraiser” the dough by repeated smearing portions of it on the table.
  6. Roll it out to 2mm/3mm thickness between parchment papers. (2mm thickness for 6~8cm diameter, 3mm thickness for 14~18cm thickness. Any other sizes, you decide)
  7. Rest in the fridge for 1~2hrs.
  8. Cut it out into strips/discs. Disks equal to tart ring diameter, strips ~ ¾” wide and 2” longer than tart ring circumference, ~14.5” for a 4” tart ring. (4” x π + 2”)
  9. Coat the inside of the ring with butter
  10. Position tart ring over a disk, press down to cut the dough disk and place on a perforated mat.
  11. If the strips are too stiff to bend, warm slightly with your hands. Line the side of the tart ring with the disk. Glue any seams by warming with your finger.
  12. Trim top of strip with a knife
  13. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
  14. Bake crust at 350⁰F for 15mins. (320⁰F
  15. If you are to bake the tart crust again after adding any filling, then bake 2-3mins less. (~12-13mins.)
  16. Add ¼ cup of filling to par baked tart and bake for 12 minutes.

Blackberry Jelly Recipe For Baked Tarts

 INGREDIENTS                                                  

• 725g mashed blackberries                 

• 130g granulated sugar                            

• 1 – 1 ½ tsp corn starch                            

• 2 Tbl lemon juice                                          

 METHOD

  1. Place clean blackberries, 2 Tbl water and 30g of sugar in a large, deep pot.
  2. Heat to break down the berries, about 10 minutes
  3. Use an immersion  blender to process the berries until they are completely broken down and juicy. Let sit 10 min.
  4. Pour the pureed mixture through a fine-mesh sieve or a dampened cheesecloth into a large measuring cup. Press gently and scrape the bottom of the sieve with a spatula. Let the puréed berries drain for an hour, stirring occasionally,  to extract as much of dark, clear juice as possible; discard the seeds. (600g whole berries yielded 337g juice.) If necessary, add water to make 1 cup.
  5. Transfer the juice to a clean jar. Set aside to complete later, or return to a clean sauce pan and continue with step 6.
  6. Stir in the lemon juice and butter.
  7. Bring the mixture to a full rolling boil (a boil that doesn’t stop bubbling when stirred) over high heat.
  8. Stir in the rest of the sugar all at once. (Depending on how much juice was collected the amount of sugar may need to be adjusted.) Return the mixture to a full rolling boil.
  9. Thicken with cornstarch (best for baked tarts) If you want to bake the filling directly inside the raw or partially baked tart shell, cornstarch will give you a glossy, stable set that does not break down under high heat.
  10. Use 1 to 1½ tablespoons of cornstarch for every 1 cup of blackberry jelly.
  11. Whisk the cornstarch into 1 tablespoon of cold water or lemon juice until smooth.
  12. Stir the slurry into your jelly in a saucepan over medium heat, bring it to a boil, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until thick and clear.
  13. Let the mixture cool slightly before pouring it into your tart shell and baking

 

 

 

Cream Cheese Whipped Cream


INGREDIENTS
• 85g (3 oz) full-fat block RT cream cheese
• 240g (1 c ) heavy cream, cold
• 23g (3 Tbl) confectioners’ sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract
METHOD

  1. Using a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla, and beat until completely smooth (absolutely no lumps!).
  2. Add a few Tablespoons of the cold heavy cream, and beat until the mixture loosens and smooths out.
  3. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly stream in the remaining heavy cream. Increase to mediumhigh speed and whip until medium peaks form, about 3 minutes. Spread or pipe as desired.

Blueberry-Cream Cheese or Fig Puff Pastry

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Sally’s Rough Puff Pastry is near perfect (my only changes are to tweak it for my baking style. Sally is catering to a larger, international audience while I am catering to myself and my QC Cadre neighbors.)

This bake required a little planning and forethought for me to make/create these pastries, (i.e. where to put the cream cheese or fig, where to place the berries and where/when to slit the dough.) I actually made a life size paper model.

The proof is in the pudding, err… pastry. The Cadre returned a unanimous decision: “Delicious”, “Flakey and Good”, “Wow. Very delicious!! They leave a lingering taste of warm sweetness ! Good job!”

Spread Cream Cheese, Blueberries and folded pastry
Spread Fig Preserves, Slits and folded pastry
Fig Pasty in front, Blueberry in back
Both Pastries cut in half to show layers.

Blueberry-Cream Cheese or Fig Puff Pastry

INGREDIENTS
• Puff Pastry (either store bought or recommended rough puff from recipe below)
• 1 Tbl Sugar
• ~ ½ c. Blueberries (~9 blueberries/pastry)
• Cream Cheese (It’s easiest to use spreadable cream cheese)
• (For fig pastry replace sugar, blueberries and cream cheese with fig preserves)

METHOD

  1. Wash blueberries and toss with a tablespoon of sugar.
  2. Roll puff (or rough puff) pastry out to a 13”x13” square.
  3. Measure and cut with a pizza cutter six 4”x6” rectangles and position horizontally. (There will be some left over after squaring up the sides.)
  4. Cut staggered diagonal slits on middle 3” of the rectangle
  5. Spread cream cheese on 1½” x 4” edge of the rectangle, being careful not to coat the edges of the pastry.
  6. Place blueberries on the center of the pastry (over the slits). I used ~ 12 blueberries per pastry.
  7. Use your finger to wet the outer 4” edge of the pastry and fold over to the center of the pastry. Repeat with the other cream cheese coated edge, butting the end up against the first fold. Press gently to seal.
  8. Use your fingers, with a little flour if the dough is sticky, to seal the ends. Turn over and place on a parchment paper line baking sheet.
  9. Bake at 400 F for 25-30 minutes, rotating the pans midway.

Rough Puff Pastry


INGREDIENTS
• 166 g (1⅓ c) all-purpose flour, plus more for flouring hands, surface, and dough
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 170 g (¾ c or 1½ sticks) unsalted Kerry Gold butter, very cold and cubed
• 6–8 Tbl ice cold water

METHOD

  1. Cut the butter into ~1/4” cubes then return to the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
  2. Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together in a large bowl. Place the cold and cubed butter on top. Gently toss the flour and butter together with your hands, and then briefly rub the butter into the flour to begin combining. Do not break down the butter too much in this step. This step is only possible if the butter is very cold.
  3. Begin adding the ice cold water 1 Tablespoon at a time until dough forms 1 large shaggy clump with big chunks of butter in your bowl. Use your hands to toss the mixture together after you add each Tablespoon. (Start with 2 Tablespoons of water before tossing together.) As the dough begins to hydrate after about 4 Tablespoons of water, you can start lightly squeezing or clumping the dough together with your hands to help bring it together. Mixture will still be very shaggy. If your dough feels sticky and wet before adding 6 Tablespoons of water, your butter was likely too warm– you can continue with the recipe, but the dough will not be as flaky.
  4. Pour the shaggy clump of dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. There will still be large chunks of butter at this point and that’s a good thing. Begin patting the dough down with lightly floured hands until it’s ¾ – 1” thick, about a 5×8” rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds as if you were folding a business letter. Use your hands to gently flatten and smooth out any cracks in your dough. Wrap it up tightly in plastic wrap.
  5. 1st refrigeration: Refrigerate dough for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
  6. Roll & Fold: Take the dough out of the refrigerator to begin the “rolling and folding” process. If the dough chilled for longer than about 3 hours, it’s likely very stiff so let it rest for about 5 minutes before you begin rolling. Lightly flour a work surface. The dough gets sticky, so make sure you have more flour nearby as you roll and fold. Use your hands to gently flatten the dough into a small square. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough into a 6”×12”x ½” thick. The exact dimensions are not important, but the thickness is. As you roll, it’s best to flip the dough over once or twice to make sure it’s not sticking to your work surface. Lightly flour your work surface as needed. Fold the rectangle into thirds as if it were a business letter. Turn it clockwise or counter clockwise and roll it out into a 6”×12”x ½” thick rectangle again. Then, fold into thirds again. Turn it clockwise or counter clockwise. You’ll repeat rolling and folding 4 more times for a total of 6 times.
  7. 2nd Refrigeration: Wrap up/seal tightly and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes and up to 24 hours before using in your recipe. You can also freeze the dough at this point. See freezing instructions.
  8. Use wherever you would use frozen store-bought puff pastry. To bake plain, roll pastry dough into a 10×16” rectangle and cut into desired portions. Fill if desired, and paint with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 Tbl water.)
  9. Bake 400°F until golden brown and puffy, about 25-28 minutes.

NOTES

  1. Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Prepare as instructed in steps 1-3. At this point the dough can be refrigerated up to 24 hours (see step 4). You can also prepare the dough through step 5. At this point the dough can be refrigerated for up to another 24 hours (see step 6).
  2. During or after this second chilling time, you could also freeze the dough for up to 1 month. (I don’t recommend freezing the dough before the rolling and folding step.) Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using in a recipe that calls for 1 lb puff pastry dough (or 1 store-bought package with 2 sheets puff pastry).