German: Fruit Tarts by Recipe Cottage

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	Fruit Tarts

		German Fruit Tarts The amount of flour and butter depends on the size of the egg. The amount of sugar depends on the sweetness/tartness of the fruit. The amount of lemon juice depends on several factors. Luckily, it is a very forgiving recipe so there are no wrong guesses, just dough easier or harder to handle. All results are perfect! Dough Small egg : one cup flour : 6 T butter fits 10" round Medium egg : 1 1/3 cups flour : 8 T butter fits 13 x 9 pan Large egg : 2 cups flour : 12 T butter fits 15 x 10 pan 1 to 3 T sugar some cinnamon lemon juice, a few drops to 3 T Perhaps because I rarely have small eggs, I usually make more dough than needed and make a little tartlet for me to eat so I won't be tempted to dive into the one for "company." Margarine can be used, but there is a serious loss of flavor. Cut butter into chunks. Put flour, sugar, cinnamon and butter into food processor and mix until it looks grainy. Add the egg and process until it gets into one big ball or almost does. If it seems to need some help, add some lemon juice, drip by drip, until it forms a soft ball. Sometimes I just take it out of the food processor and make it into a ball myself, as long as it is fully mixed. It should be a gooey mess, according to Leni, although I add less lemon juice, so it ends up a greasy but not exactly gooey mess. She did not roll the dough to get it into the pan, so she wanted a softer dough. I do roll mine, so stiffer is fine. Put the dough in the refrigerator while you prepare the fruit and topping. Fruit 2 to 2 1/2 pounds of fruit Fruits other than apples are best just short of squishy ripe, while still firm enough to handle but not hard. I peel and pit the fruit, but leave the halves uncut until I am ready to place the fruit on the dough. I put a little lemon juice on the halves to prevent discoloration. I scald peaches to remove skin. I use a melon baller to get the seeds out of pears and apples. Plums (the oval kind, with blue skin and yellow flesh) are not peeled, and may need to be quartered to get them off their pits, which is fine because they get cut into eighths, not sliced. If a peach half won't come off its pit, cut it horizontally, in order to maintain slicing shape. Topping 1/3 to 3/4 cup sugar 1 - 2 T flour for juicy fruit, maybe ½ T cornstarch 1 1/2 - 2 T butter a pinch to 1/8 tsp nutmeg maybe a little cinnamon Using a knife or fork, blend into a crumbly topping to sprinkle over fruit. I prefer to get the butter completely cut into the dry ingredients, so few if any lumps remain. Assembly Matza meal, or fine bread crumbs Roll out the dough onto a piece of wax paper. It is a very rich dough and does not roll very well. When it as close to the right size as possible, flip it into the pan. Squish the dough out to and up the sides. Remove the wax paper when you need to get at it with your fingers. (Leni skipped the rolling and just squished.) Sprinkle a thin layer of matza meal over the surface. Slice the fruit halves from top to bottom, to get flat slices. Apples should be cut quite thin, pears and peaches about 1/4 to 3/8 inch. The curvy top and bottom go into a bowl, to be eaten while the tart is in the oven, or to be used for the little consolation tart. Sliced fruit can be overlapped, plums must be placed very close together, as overlapped as possible. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit. Bake at 375 F, for 45 minutes, until the crust is just getting brown. The consolation tartlet can come out at the same time, after going in maybe 10 minutes after the tart. I make it a free-form shape, and bake it on a small cookie sheet.