Tartlets - small baskets from various dough - look spectacular on the festive table. They are not only beautiful, but steadily (unlike some sandwiches) bear the filling. They crunch pleasantly, it is convenient to pick them up. One is hygienic enough. Because tartlets have long become an indispensable attribute of receptions. They can be purchased at the store: puff, sand. But your snack will turn out much tastier if you prepare the baskets yourself. This article will thoroughly study how to bake tartlets at home without molds. A recipe with a photo will make the process of making baskets more understandable. We will also give some interesting ideas for making tartlets without dough.
Snack History
The word "tartelette", of course, has a French origin. But there is evidence that tartlets similar to tartlets from the dough with a variety of appetizers served at feasts in ancient Rome. In the Middle Ages, tiny open cakes were stuffed with various delicacies. These predecessors of modern tartlets were called pate. The French invented many variations of these pies, and each grade was given high-profile names: dukes, to the table of which they were served (a la Mazarini, Bouillon, etc.) or the city in which the recipe saw the light (de Chartres - with a partridge, d 'Amiens - with a duck, de Dieppe - with halibut). But what kind of culinary specialist at the end of the XIX century came up with how to bake tartlets at home, is unknown. History has not preserved the name of this ingenious cook. Unlike pate, baskets can be prepared for future use and filled with various snacks, salads, pastes.
What are tartlets
Mostly baskets are baked from shortcrust or puff pastry. But this is not an indisputable canon. You can also bake tartlets at home from cheese, cottage cheese or unleavened dough, on sour cream or kefir. There are also very original recipes for baskets of red, black or white boiled rice, raw potatoes or mashed potatoes, rye bread. Tartlets are cold and hot; sweet, salty or sweet. In most cases, ready-made baskets are stuffed with various snacks - vegetable, fish, meat salads, pastes, caviar. But there are so-called complex tartlets. In them, the basket is baked with the filling and it is served hot. These complex tartlets are very satisfying and may well replace the main course.
There is no need to talk about the great variety of fillings: starting with the banal olivier and ending with
glazed fruits or aspic. But in the matter of fillers for baskets, there are clear rules. They should at least be touched in passing.
What can and cannot be put in dough baskets
Before baking tartlets at home, you need to think about the filling. Not everyone is good for being put in a basket. First, rate the size. A salad of coarsely chopped vegetables, large pieces of meat or fish will look unaesthetically and constantly fall out of the tartlet. Secondly, evaluate the density of the filling. You are going to put it on the dough. If the filling is too liquid (salads with plentiful dressing, boiled or stewed fish), it will impregnate a basket. In this regard, the tartlet will not only lose its wonderful crunch, but may even fall apart. Cheese, seafood, pastes will be a good filling. To ensure greater waterproof tartlets, they are still warm lubricated with a raw egg. If the filling is planned cold, the bottom of the baskets is filled with a small amount of butter. Julienne should be well thickened before making them a filling for tartlets. Canned fruits should be laid out in baskets immediately before serving.
Basic recipe
It's time to learn how to bake tartlets at home. A photo of some of the steps in this process can be found in this article. Sift a glass of flour through a sieve into a bowl. Add a pinch of salt. Highly chilled butter (one hundred grams) is chopped or rubbed quickly to flour. Mix to make a rough crumb. Add the egg yolk. If tartlets are planned to be sweet, then it makes sense to mix it with a spoonful of sugar. Gradually add a few tablespoons of water. It should make a cool shiny dough. We remove it for half an hour in the refrigerator. Then we quickly roll out the dough into a thin layer. The edges of the molds cut out pieces. We lay the dough, send it to the refrigerator for another half hour.
Preheat the oven at 220 degrees. Pour peas to the bottom of the tartlets so that the dough does not swell. Bake baskets for about a quarter of an hour.
Something about cookie cutters
In the markets and now you can buy tin corrugated baskets of artisanal work. They are cheap and you can buy them enough to put the whole baking sheet with them. However, working with tin molds can cause serious problems. The dough can stick to the walls and bottom tightly. And the sand base is a rather fragile thing. If you are thinking how to bake tartlets at home with tin cans, you need to know a few secrets. Lubricate the bottom and sides, carefully working out all the corrugations with margarine, and then powder with flour. Now you can lay the dough. Turn the mold onto the formation, press down with your hand. The tin edges themselves will cut a circle. Now it remains only to put it in the form. Pierce a couple of times with a fork or sprinkle peas. Ready tartlets must be allowed to cool slightly, and then removed from the mold. But do not overexpose, otherwise the products will stink of tin. It is best to use molds made of non-stick metal or silicone. Then no margarine or flour is required.
How to bake tartlets at home without molds
But what if we do not have either silicone or even tin baskets? Maybe you should completely abandon the idea of making holiday tartlets? Or surrender to the mercy of the food industry and buy ready-made dough baskets (often tasteless and not at all crunchy)? Do not rush to be upset. If you know how to bake tartlets at home without molds, you can prepare your own original baskets. Of what? Yes from the test! We roll it into a layer. We work not with a rolling pin, but with a bottle filled with ice water - we need cold dough. We put a wide glass on the bed. Cut out the circle. We put a narrow glass on it. Press down. It turns out a small circle and a ring. Beat the egg in a bowl. In the oven, it works like glue. Dip the bottom edge of the ring into the egg and attach to the bottom mug. It turned out a plate with sides. We place the baking sheet with the products in the refrigerator, and then send it to the preheated oven.
How to bake tartlets at home without puff pastry molds
To simplify the matter, you can buy a ready-made base in the store. Defrost, roll. If you don’t have any tins, you can bake flounces - large or small puff pastry cakes, and then start them of your choice. But you can also try to give the products the shape of a basket. To bake tartlets at home, you need to cut a large circle, put the bottom of a thin glass in its center and form corrugated sides around it from the dough.
Unconventional tartlets
Do not forget that the hostesses also have such a wonderful product as foil. In the presence of dexterity, plates of any shape and size can be made of aluminum layers. And you can not use the test at all. How to bake tartlets at home without flour base? Grate the potatoes, salt them. Lubricate metal or foil molds with vegetable oil. Tamp the raw potatoes to make baskets. In the center, lay out a filling that requires a short heat treatment. Bake in the oven at 240 degrees for 20-25 minutes.