195: Mini Kiwi Fruit Tarts

I have been thinking about baking some mini fruit tarts for the longest time (probably since before the exams) so since Daddy still has two packets of kiwi fruits, I decided to use a few of them to make some mini kiwi fruit tarts.

This is my very first time baking these mini fruit (kiwi fruit) tarts. And I’m really proud to say that they didn’t disappoint! I’m really glad that they turned out quite pretty (although not really perfect looking) but they did meet the taste test!

In my case, the recipe I used yielded 12 mini fruit tarts, 7 medium fruit tarts and 2 large fruit tarts. The custard cream I made following the recipe only yielded enough custard for the 12 mini fruits tarts and 3 medium fruit tarts. For the other 4 medium fruit tarts and 2 large fruit tarts, I melted some chocolates (around 8 mini cubes of chocolate) and substituted it for the custard cream. Sounds confusing?

And I must say, HOMEMADE CUSTARD CREAM tastes really good! Mummy suggested using her custard powder she has for the custard cream but I didn’t want to use it cause the commercial custard powder had this strange chemical taste that I did not fancy.

These are my mini kiwi fruit tarts. The tart shells are not shaped that pretty but they do look presentable.

This is the close-up of the medium kiwi fruit tart with custard cream.

And this is the close-up of the large kiwi fruit tart with melted chocolate.

And now, for the RECIPE, should anyone wants to try this!

Custard Cream (in my case, sufficient for 12 mini and 3 medium tarts)

• Corn Flour – 2tbsp
• Egg Yolk – 1
• Sugar – 2 and a half tbsp
• Fresh Milk – 100ml

1. Combine yolk and corn flour together. Whisk with a hand whisk till both ingredients are well blended.
2. Add the sugar slowly into the yolk mixture and mix well, also with the hand whisk.
3. Warm the milk over low heat. Do not allow the milk to boil.
4. Stir the warmed milk gently into the yolk mixture and make sure all are well mixed.
5. Put the mixture on low heat and keep stirring till mixture thickens. Make sure that it’s on low heat, too high heat will lead to curds and clumps (then the custard cream will not be homogeneous looking). The mixture will take some time to thicken (about 5-10 minutes)  so just keep stirring.
6. Leave to cool. And it’s ready to be used.

Tart Shells (sufficient for 12 mini, 7 medium and 2 large tarts)

• 200g cake flour
• 60g icing sugar
• 100g butter, softened
• 60g eggs (I used 2 small first-born eggs)

1. Combine butter and icing sugar and mix till light and fluffy using the hand mixer.
2. Add in the eggs slowly and blend well. Make sure that egg is well corporated into the mixture before pouring in another portion.
3. Once mixture is ready, stir in all the flour and mixe well. Using a mixer on low speed helps save time!
4. Once a dough is form, scoop the dough and knead it gently. Flour the table surface.
5. Knead the dough into small equal portions (around a ping pong ball size).
6. Shape the dough into the metal tart mould (no need to butter mould) using your fingers. This is the tricky part cause’ you don’t want the tart shell to be too thick (the shell do rise when they are being baked) so try to make a tart shell as thin as possible. But still, it’s to one’s own preference – thick or thin tart shell?
7. Bring to bake at 180 degree Celsius for 20~ 25 mins or when turn brown.

After which, allow tart shells to cool. And then you are ready to assemble the fruit tarts. Scoop the custard cream or melted chocolate and fill it into the tart shell. Topped each tart shell with cut kiwi fruits (or any fruits – strawberries, peaches, bananas, apricots, grapes, berries etc) and they are ready to be served! I like my tarts chilled so in they go into the refrigerator!

I really like the tart shells of this recipe! I am pretty picky and fussy about my tart shells. I like the tarts shells of the fruit tarts being sold at Delifrance because they are nicely browned and are crunchy. And I don’t like tart shells that are pale and yellow and taste like underbaked dough. My kiwi fruit tart shells did meet the taste test! They are crunchy and adequately brown! So I’m really glad they turned out well. The only problem was that the tart shells I shaped earlier (for the first few shells) were a little thick also because the tart shells did rise a little in the oven. So note to myself, shape the tart shells thinner the next time round.

The custard cream, as mentioned, was good! Homemade custard cream rocks. Beats commercial custard powder/cream hands down. And the melted chocolate was obviously good, who can resist chocolates?

Alright, great first attempt, Rina!:)

Edit: Yipee! The sis tried my mini kiwi fruit tarts and she said it’s not bad. It’s very difficult to please this girl cause’ her tastebuds are really picky. And she was surprised to learn that I made the tart shells, she thought they were store-bought. That must mean that either the tart shells taste really nice (like those sold in supermarkets) or that they were shaped really nicely. Haha (: Oops!