Tuesday, June 09, 2009

TWD--Very Mini Apple Tartlets and Nectarine and Mango

The Tuesday's With Dorie recipe for this week might possibly be the easiest recipe in Dorie's book, Baking From My Home to Yours!  Thank you, Jessica from My Baking Heart for picking this recipe.  It was fun, EASY and YUMMY! 

On that note, I didn't actually DO as the recipe says.  Why?  Well, for the recipe we're supposed to 4 inch circles of puff pastry.  Puff pastry is a yummy, buttery, pre-made frozen pastry dough that is SO GOOD.  I love it.  I was afraid to make these because you could pile onions in them and I'd eat it, no--wait, I'm kidding!  If you know me, you know that I loathe onions, so that may be the one thing I wouldn't eat with puff pastry, but other than that, I love it!  I used it once for something and I ate a lot of it.  You know, like almost the whole sheet.  Not all in one sitting, but you know what I'm saying.  It's so buttery and flaky and good. 

SO--I decided to keep my "girlish figure" (ha, that was gone YEARS ago!), but I decided I'd better not make these with puff pastry.  What then?  Well, I used phyllo dough, pre-made shells.  The little mini ones, the ones I recently made with these Lazy Cook's Baklava.  I LOVE THESE, too!  At only 15 calories for each empty shell, I thought that sounded much better than whatever the amount is for puff pastry.  If you really want to know, check out Kim's post about these at Scrumptious Photography, she always puts the nutrition information for these treats on her blog.  Anyway, I used these--

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Well, okay, they weren't filled with nuts when I made  my version of this week's Parisian Apple Tartlets, but I'll bet you could have figured that out! ;)

Simple, simple, simple.  I just cut up some apple (I used Granny Smith) in to tiny little chunks, sprinkled them with a little lemon juice and some brown sugar.  I filled each shell with apples, sprinkled a little more brown sugar on top and a little dot of butter to finish them off.  I only made enough to fill six shells, on purpose, then I filled six more with some nectarine I chunked up, sprinkled with granulated sugar also.  And since I actually have a mango right now, I filled the last three shells with some cut up sugared mango.  No measuring here.

Ready for a short stint in the oven---

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I baked these for 10 minutes.  They were prefect.

Well, except for a couple of the nectarine ones, they apparently didn't quite make it.

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Don't worry, they still tasted just fine! ; )

After they came out of the oven, I sprinkled the apple ones and a nectarine one with a little cinnamon (I've restocked from last week!).  If I'd have remembered before, I'd have actually sprinkled the apples with cinnamon before I baked them.  Either way, the apple ones were the clear winners, with the nectarine ones close behind.  Actually, neither should be outdone by the mango.   They were all three really good!  Need an appetizer for a shindig, these would be great!

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Had to kick it up a little with the apple ones.

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Mmmm, ice cream!  But something else?  Hmmm?

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Caramel!  Now we're talkin'. 

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I can only IMAGINE how good the puff pastry and apple would have been!  Sigh.  Someday.  Thanks for the great pick, Jessica.  Check out all the other blogs at the Tuesday's With Dorie site.   See ya next week for some ice cream!

35 comments:

Pamela said...

I love those little dough cups! I've seen them before, but never used them. I'll have to get some because they would be perfect to fill and use for appetizers. Nice job on these little tarts, Katrina. So much variety! And filling with ice cream and caramel sauce was a brilliant idea!

Lisa Ernst said...

What a great idea. I could see making these for a nice ending to a meal when what's called for is something small and light. I guess with the puff pastry the "light" part may not apply, so I might try your approach and offer a little ice cream to top it off.

Amanda said...

I love them they are adorable! I wonder if the nectarines had too much moisture? At any rate, they look yummy ;) I thought this was super easy too!

Jersey Girl Cooks said...

I love little mini desserts. These look great.

Hindy said...

These look so yummy in the phyllo cups. And the caramel sauce! Perfection.

vibi said...

I'll have one of each please! They all look soooo yummy! Nice going... very creative of you!

Megan said...

What a great idea - perfect size. And a tiny dollop of ice cream never hurt anyone!

Jennifer said...

Wow, they look so cute and tasty. I added cinnamon and icecream, too, there's just something about fruity desserts and vanilla icecream. Yum.

spike. said...

Those look perfect! Love your creativity this week

Kayte said...

These are so pretty and delicious looking...I would love to have one of these on my plate. Did I say one? Okay, two. Maybe three. Okay, give me one of each kind...LOL! Great job, and I love seeing it all with so many photos.

Jaime said...

wow, love all the variations!!!

chocolatechic said...

Oh...they are just so adorable!

Jessica of My Baking Heart said...

Thanks so much for baking with me this week!! The mini tartlets are adorable! :)

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

ooh! I love these little minis! So cute and fun. Glad you were able to restock on the cinnamon from last week.

TeaLady said...

Those are fantastic. I think I would eat one with JUST the caramel.

Anonymous said...

I went with nectarine and mango too but mine aren't nearly as cute as yours.

Soy*Baby said...

Too cute. I'm sure these were just as tasty especially with the ice cream and caramel.

Unknown said...

The mango ones look irresistible. I love how many variations you've come up with.

Nichicakes said...

Cute twist!

mike said...

Wonderful, creative variations! They look fantastic - I love how you combined the fruit and made them "bite size". Nicely done!

lisaiscooking said...

I have an onion issue too! Your tartlets look great. Love the cinnamon on top.

Prudy said...

What a great idea. Wish I'd used the filo cups.

noble pig said...

Another great way to use the shells!

anudivya said...

Puff pastry sheets are such a blessing. Can't imagine making them from scratch. Did not have them for a month or two after seeing how they made it, there was this huge block of butter to be layered b/w the dough. But then eventually got back to it... couldn't resist for too long.

Anonymous said...

oh my god...these are perfect! I love the addition of the nuts for a little crunch...these are like pretty edible flowers!

Cate O'Malley said...

Too cute - love the mini size!

Unknown said...

I love the little phyllo cups! I wish I'd known they were so much healthier than the puff pastry. I ate an absurd amount of the puff pastry so maybe next time I'll try phyllo too :) Great job with all of your variations! I really want to try mango on these tartlets.

Valerie said...

They all look great. I love mini desserts!

Chocolaty Lifestyle said...

This one's something I'd love to try! Too bad that it's not possible to buy something like those shells here, but maybe it's possible to make them by my own?

Emily said...

Man, you've been busy! It took me a while to catch up. These phyllo tarts look yummy, but I really can't stop staring at that ice cream cake! I would eat the entire cake. Happy birthday to your son!

The muffins, frozen yogurt, and cake look good too.

MacDuff said...

I love this idea! I didn't use the puff pastry either, although it was mainly because I was lazy rather than anything else...

Donna-FFW said...

Your tarts look out of this world delicious. All your different ways of presenting are just perfect! Love your choice of the dough cups.

Culinary Wannabe said...

How cute! I bet you can't eat just one! :) And speaking of Les Mis - I feel ya! My husband loves to play those songs on the piano and they always get stuck in my head all day.

Anonymous said...

OMG, I love your take on the Parisian Apple Tartlets! They look absolutely beautiful and the colors really shine! Such a great idea - I'm going to have to copy you one day!!

Clumbsy Cookie said...

Those phillo tartlets are so cute! Great idea Katrina using them instead of the puff pastry! Of course I also love puff pastry but these would suit me just fine too!