Bon Appetit Desserts (88 page)

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep frozen. Do not thaw before continuing.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix cheese, lemon juice, and coarse salt in small bowl; spread mixture inside rings on frozen pastry rounds. Overlap apple slices atop cheese. Mix butter and ¼ cup honey in small bowl; brush over apples. Sprinkle with allspice.

Bake until apples are tender and pastry is golden, about 35 minutes. Place tartlets on plates. Drizzle 1 tablespoon honey over each and serve warm or at room temperature.

Lemon Tartlets with Fresh Blueberries

Lemon and berries are a classic (and delicious) combination. Blueberries are great with the tangy lemon curd filling, but blackberries or sliced strawberries would be nice, too.
Makes 8

2½ cups unbleached all purpose flour

½ cup sugar

¾ teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

1 large egg

1 cup sugar

¾ cup (1½ sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

½ cup fresh lemon juice

5 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel

1 cup blueberries

CRUST
: Mix flour, sugar, and salt in processor. Add butter; using on/off turns, cut in until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add egg and blend until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball. Place scant ⅓ cup dough in each of eight 4 ½-inch-diameter tartlet pans with removable bottoms. Using fingertips, press onto bottom and up sides of pan. Trim edges. Place on baking sheet. Chill 15 minutes.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and keep chilled.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake crusts until golden brown, piercing with toothpick if crust bubbles, about 15 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool.

FILLING
: Combine sugar, butter, lemon juice, eggs, egg yolks, and lemon peel in heavy medium saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until mixture thickens, about 9 minutes (do not boil). Pour lemon curd into bowl. Place plastic wrap directly onto surface of curd. Chill until cool, about 2 hours.

Spoon lemon curd into crusts, dividing equally. Chill until curd sets, at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours.

Remove tartlets from pans. Top each with some berries.

Spiced Plum and Caramelized Apple Tartlets with Calvados Cream

Dried plums—otherwise known as prunes—get dressed up with spices and Calvados, an apple brandy from France. If you can’t find Calvados, Armagnac or Cognac would also be delicious.
Makes 8

½ cup (packed) pitted prunes

½ cup (packed) golden brown sugar

½ cup water

2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter

2 tablespoons Calvados (apple brandy)

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

⅛ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ cup
(
½ stick) butter

¼ cup sugar

4 medium Granny Smith apples (about 2 pounds), peeled, quartered, cored

1 sheet frozen puff pastry (half of 16-ounce package all-butter puff pastry or half of 17.3-ounce package regular puff pastry), thawed

8 large egg yolks

⅔ cup plus 4 teaspoons sugar

⅔ cup Calvados (apple brandy)

1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

SPICED PLUM SPREAD
: Stir prunes, brown sugar, ½ cup water, and butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium-low heat until sugar dissolves. Cover and simmer until prunes are very soft, about 15 minutes. Uncover and simmer over low heat until mixture is reduced to ¾ cup, about 4 minutes. Add Calvados, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves; mash prunes in pan into thick jam-like spread.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be prepared 1 week ahead. Cover with plastic and refrigerate.

APPLES AND PASTRY
: Melt butter in heavy medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sugar. Cook until sugar melts and turns deep amber, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Add apples. Cook until just tender and browned, occasionally shifting and turning apples, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool in skillet.

Roll pastry out on lightly floured surface to thin 13×13-inch square. Using 4-inch-round cookie cutter, cut out 8 pastry rounds. Transfer to parchment-lined heavy large baking sheet. Using fork, pierce pastry rounds all over, leaving ⅓-inch border around edge. Chill pastry until firm, about 15 minutes.

Spread 1 slightly rounded tablespoon plum mixture evenly over center of each round, leaving ⅓-inch plain border. Slice each apple quarter into 5 thin wedges. Fan out 10 apple slices atop plum mixture on each round, forming rosette. Reserve any juices in small bowl.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover tartlets and any juices separately and refrigerate.

CALVADOS CREAM
: Whisk egg yolks, ⅔ cup sugar, and Calvados in medium metal bowl. Set bowl over pan of gently boiling water. Whisk constantly until mixture thickens and instant-read thermometer registers 165°F, about 5 minutes. Cool, stirring occasionally. Whip cream until soft peaks form. Fold cooled egg mixture into whipped cream. Cover and chill.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.

Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Drizzle each tartlet with reserved juices and sprinkle with ½ teaspoon sugar. Bake until crust is deep golden brown, about 18 minutes. Serve tartlets warm or at room temperature with Calvados cream.

Warm Banana Tartlets with Peanut Crunch Ice Cream

An utterly decadent treat: peanut and banana tartlets paired with homemade peanut brittle ice cream. And because the tartlets use purchased puff pastry, they come together in no time. To take these completely over the top, serve with caramel sauce. Peel and slice the bananas just before using them to prevent browning. If you’re running short on time, skip the homemade ice cream and simply stir the chopped peanut brittle into your favorite vanilla ice cream.
Makes 8

1½ cups heavy whipping cream

1½ cups half and half

1¼ cups chopped lightly salted roasted peanuts

½ cup sugar

7 large egg yolks

⅔ cup chopped peanut brittle

⅔ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour

⅔ cup finely chopped lightly salted roasted peanuts

1 17.3-ounce package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed

1 egg, beaten to blend

4 bananas, peeled, thinly sliced into rounds

ICE CREAM
: Bring cream and half and half to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. Add peanuts. Cover; remove from heat and let stand 30 minutes.

Strain cream mixture through sieve set over large bowl, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard peanuts. Whisk in sugar and egg yolks. Return to saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across and instant-read thermometer registers 160°F to 165°F when inserted into custard, about 4 minutes (do not boil). Strain into medium bowl. Chill uncovered until cold. Transfer custard to ice-cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer ice cream to container. Mix in brittle. Cover and freeze until firm.

DO AHEAD
:
Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep frozen.

TARTLETS
: Preheat oven to 350°F. Using electric mixer, beat ⅔ cup sugar and butter in medium bowl until well blended. Beat in egg yolks. Mix in flour, then nuts. Set peanut cream aside.

Unfold pastry onto work surface. Cut each pastry sheet into 4 squares; pierce all over with fork. Place 4 pastry squares on each of 2 baking sheets, spacing apart. Brush egg over pastry. Spread 2 tablespoons peanut cream over each, leaving ½-inch plain border. Arrange bananas in overlapping slices atop peanut cream. Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.

Bake tartlets until crusts are golden brown, about 30 minutes. Transfer to plates. Serve warm with ice cream.

Cappuccino Éclairs

A great twist on the traditional vanilla cream-filled éclair: The custard filling is flavored with coffee and the éclairs are topped with milk chocolate for a delicious mocha treat.
Makes about 12

2 cups water

1 cup finely ground dark-roast coffee beans (such as French roast)

½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise

1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream

5 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 large egg yolks

¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, diced

1 cup water

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, diced

¾ teaspoon salt

1 cup bread flour

4 large eggs

4 ounces high-quality milk chocolate (such as Lindt or Perugina), melted

Powdered sugar

FILLING
: Brew 2 cups water and ground coffee in standard coffeemaker. Pour 1 cup brewed coffee into heavy medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean, then cream. Bring mixture to boil.