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August 22, 2010

Blueberries Ricotta Tartlettes: the blueberry obsession continues



Oh yes, I still have A LOT of blueberries! 
Oh yes, I told you I was going to obsess with them!
Oh yes, I warned you that you were going to get many recipes with blueberries!
And oh yes, I promised I was going to bake a lot over the weekend!

 See?! I keep my promises...always (or almost)...so here is my second blueberry obsession recipe: blueberries ricotta tartlettes. I have also been meaning to try Dorie Greenspan's Sweet Tart Dough since a lot time. This seemed like a good occasion. Just that instead of making one single tart I've made 6 tartlettes.


I kept this recipe simple, as I always like. I'm still super busy with the house purchase and even if during the weekend we cannot accomplish much, I have to catch up with all the things I did not have time to do over the week and I won't have time to do next week. The tartlettes shells are filled with a very delicate ricotta cream that has a hint of cinnamon in it. Wally does not like ricotta so I added a pinch or two of cinnamon to "hide" the ricotta taste. The cream fits perfectly in taste and texture with the blueberries. Of course, you can (and should) put many more blueberries on top than the ones I put. 

Blueberries Ricotta Tartlettes
Ingredients

For the tartlettes dough

1 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 tsp salt
130 gr (4 and 1/2 oz or 1 stick plus 1 tbps) very cold unsalted butter, cut
into small pieces 
1 egg yolk

For the ricotta cream and decoration
200 gr ricotta
80 gr confectioners' sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
blueberries

To make the dough*:
Put the flour, confectioners' sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine.  Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is cut in coarsely - you'll have pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and pea-size pieces and that's just fine.  Stir the egg, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses - about 10 seconds each - until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds.  Just before your reaches this clumpy stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change - heads up.  Turn the dough out onto a work surface.
Very lightly and sparingly - make that very, very lightly and sparingly - knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.
Press the dough into a tart pan, or a tartlettes pan in my case. 

To make a press-in crust:  Butter the tart pan and press the dough evenly along the bottom and up the sides of the pan.  Don't be stingy - you want a crust with a little heft because you want to be able to both taste and feel it.  Also, don't be too heavy-handed - you want to press the crust in so that the pieces cling to one another and knit together when baked, but you don't want to press so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture.  Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking. 

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil tightly against the crust.  Bake the crust for about 30 minutes, then carefully remove the foil.  If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon.  Transfer the crust to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

*Note: these are the directions as given by Dorie Greenspan in her book. I did the dough by hands and it still came out super good. As always (don't hate me for repeating this every time) you just have to make sure to not overwork the dough if you work it by hand.



To make the ricotta cream
Mix together the ricotta, the confectioners' sugar and the cinnamon. Refrigerate for at least one hour before using it.



To assemble:
Spread the ricotta cream over the tartlettes shells, top with blueberries and enjoy!

Have a sweet day!

Source for the tart dough: Dorie Greenspan, From my Home to Yours


Blueberry Ricotta Tartlettes on Foodista

25 comments:

  1. The tarts look delicious! Love the ricotta/blueberry combo!

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  2. We are thinking alike!! Blueberry scones was my daughter's "day before school starts" surprise when she woke up this morning. But even more exciting, I just received my tartlett pan in the mail!!! Can't wait to give it a try, these look fantastic.

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  3. This is such a pretty dessert. Perfect for this time of year when blueberries are so fresh!

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  4. They are too gorgeous to eat....I lie - send one over~

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  5. @Susi: I love the ricotta/blueberry combo too so when I new I was going to have lots of blueberries I run to the store to get ricotta :)
    @Kim: I love my tartlett pan. When I bought it I kind of felt guilty...thinking that maybe I did not need it that much but since the first time I used it I'm totally in love with it! (and with tartlettes)
    @Mother Rimmy: thanks and thanks for stopping by
    @Jennifurla: I should really send them over...despite how much I tried to hide the ricotta taste my husband still doesn't like these tartlettes. Now I will have to eat them all myself. Oh well, I guess one has to make sacrifices to have a blog of only baked goods :)

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  6. These are too cute!!! I'm with Jenni, send one over to me too. ;)

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  7. @Amanda: we should set up a special mail service so I could send out all the leftovers I have when my husband gets picky! Guess why I don't lose weight?! :(

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  8. How are you able to do all this when you also are moving. You're amazing (as are those tartlettes!).

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  9. Well, we are still not moving :( We placed an offer, it was accepted and this week we have to deal with the inspections and loan approval (cross fingers). In the meantime, the school where I work is moving!! I will have 3 weeks of school year planning, moving boxes and furniture assembling...so if the house thing goes well I will have two moving in 1 month! I need to eat loooot of sweets :)

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  10. Sara, your tartlettes look so perfect. Like everyone else, I vote that you send them over to me, too. Except...I'm also in the bay area so I'd happily pick them up myself! :-) These are truly drool worthy. How come my tart shells never look this good?

    Congrats on your new house!

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  11. Oh! Ricotta and blueberry is one of my fav blueberry combinations. And those tart shells look so freaking adorable. What's it about small food that makes me think it just tastes that much better?

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  12. Such cute little tartlettes! I love the ricotta filling- it sounds marvelous!

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  13. I love the blueberry recipes! This one looks delicious! I love smaller versions of delicious treats :)

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  14. Jean, come on over or I will have to eat three of them by myself tomorrow! i don't know what's up with the small food/desserts but aren't they just adorable?! maybe one also feels less guilty in knowing she's eating a small portion...unless you eat three small portions like I do...but I am really becoming a fan of small desserts. Next time I want to put some chocolate in the ricotta instead of cinnamon :)

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  15. These are adorable little tartlettes! They look delicious!

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  16. Sara, these look like perfet little bites. Keep 'em coming!!!!

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  17. Thank you Jessica and Joudie!

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  18. Oh My God, I really love them!!!

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  19. These tarts look verrry yummy. I've actually never tried blueberries in a tart before. I think I'm missing out on something good! :D

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  20. My list is growing, on top of the blueberries I need a tart pan, I think it's the one pan I don't own!
    -Gina-

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  21. Grazie Anna!
    @Koci: you really have to try blueberries in a tart! At least now that they are fresh in season
    @Gina: there are so many things I don't own that I better don't even start thinking about it or I'll get into debt for compulsive buying :)

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  22. What's not to obsess, Sara? Blueberries are wonderful! And so are these lovely tarlets!

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  23. These tartlets look simple yet sophisticated. Easy to prepare beforehand as well and would be ideal for a dinner party. I suppose you could substitute the blueberries for other fruit as well.
    Thanks for sharing. Would love to give this one a try.

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  24. @Patricia: thanks! and thanks for stopping by. I always drool when I see you goodies
    @Nirvana: they are indeed great for a party. You can totally prepared them in advance. In fact I made the shells and then fill them in the day after. I bet you can substitutes blueberries for other fruit and still have amazing tartlettes. You can also substitute the cream with a less cheesy one

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  25. Sara - these tartlettes are priceless! I'm so luvin' smaller sized, portioned desserts/food and tartlettes fit that bill. Your shells are perfect! Just bought some little tartlette pans...this may be my first project. Thank you for the inspiration. :)

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