One...two...three flavors tartlettes

Yesterday afternoon I was craving for something good, not just for its taste. I needed one of those small treats that I used to have when I was a kid. One of my favorite afternoon snacks (without counting the infinite amount of slices of bread with Nutella, of course!) was what commercially is called "Crostatina".

A crostatina is nothing else than a small tartlette made with a crust similar to shortbread...one of the easiest and quickest crust to make, if a few tips are followed. Also, it really is a versatile recipe. You can virtually fill these little tarts with anything: marmalade, jam, chocolate cream, custard cream.....anything really. I had three different jams at home: strawberry, apricot and raspberry. Why choose one when you can  have them all?

Crostatine

Ingredients

yield 12 tartlettes

125 gr flour

75 gr butter, soft

50 gr sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tsp vanilla sugar or vanilla extract

Jam, marmalade, cream or anything else to fill in

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a mini muffin pan with butter or non-stick cooking spray.

Sift flour onto a clean surface and make a hole where you will put the soft butter, the sugar, the vanilla and the yolk.

Lightly work the dough by hand until the ingredients are well mixed but making sure not to work it for too long or the dough will "burn" and it will become unusable.

Wrap the dough into plastic paper and let it rest for about an hour in a cold, dry place (I actually place it in the fridge sometimes).

Roll out the dough and with a cookie cutter or a glass cut 12 rounds that you will place in the mini muffin pan to give them the shape of small tarts. Punch the bottom of the tartlettes with a fork and then fill in with your favorite filling. 

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the edges of the tartlettes only start to become brown. It is important to not over bake the dough or the tartlettes will be very hard and dry once cooled down.  

Cool completely at room temperature before trying to take the tartelettes out of pan or they will break.
Enjoy them with a cup of coffe or tea...or anything else really!