Mini Strawberry Tarts

Peter came over and since he lacks any kitchen accoutrements at his dorm, we decided to satisfy his cravings for some home cooking. We had some fresh strawberries on hand, time, and a hankering for sugar. Since we were waiting for food to be delivered (from ATE Comfort, super yummy and cheap in the San Diego area) He called his mommy, and she gave us a pastry crust recipe. I googled and found a custard recipe. Good teamwork.

Tart Crust

• 1 cup flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 T Sugar
• 1/4 t orange peel (optional)
• 4 oz unsalted butter
• 1 T Water
• 1/2 t vanilla
• handful chocolate chips

1. Mix dry ingredients together
2. Cut butter into dry ingredients
3. Add water and vanilla
4. Mix until holds together
5. Refrigerate for ~20 minutes until cold
6. Divide up dough into 6 equal parts. Press dough ball into muffin pan with fingers. Push to cover bottom and sides. Try to make it an even thickness ~1/4 in.
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. You might want to check after 10 minutes.
8. Put chocolate on bottom while still warm. Spread chocolate out on bottom when melted.

Strawberry Filling

• 1.5 cups fresh strawberries
• 3 T sugar

1. Cut strawberries into slices
2. Sprinkle sugar on top, and mix

Custard Sauce

• 1 c Milk
• 1/4 c Sugar
• 3 Egg yolks
• Ice

1. Heat milk and sugar until simmering, without stirring.
2. Take off heat, add slowly to beaten egg yolks
3. Return to burner, and let mixture thicken until coats back of spoon. Be careful not to overheat and cook the egg.
4. Take off heat and stir over ice until cool
5. Place in fridge until cold,

Tart Assembly:

1. Wait until the tart shells are cooled off.
2. Spoon a bit of custard into the bottom of each shell.
3. Assemble strawberry slices on top. If you can do it artfully congratuations, if you can't it's still yummy.

Makes 6 mini strawberry tarts.

You'll probably have a lot of leftover custard, mmm. Put on ice cream, dessert, or your spoon.

Apple Turnovers

Well first off, college kitchens are not conducive to baking. I ended up making these turnovers without a rolling pin, pastry brush, or more importantly an oven. Instead, I made due with a good deal of palm pressing, a wooden spoon, and a microwave oven with an oven setting. Okay, so they ended up a bit underdone, but I blame the microwave oven.

Ingredients

• 1 large granny smith apple
• 2 T sugar
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1 sheet of puff pastry

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Hopefully, you got a sheet of puff pastry and not a block of it. If you did get a block, roll it out into a square like shape of about 14x14 inches (or larger) The dough should be 1/4" thick. Cut the dough into 4 7x7 inch squares
3. Cut the apple into thin wedges, the apple should make about 16. Coat these wedges in a mixture of the sugar and cinnamon. Make sure they are well covered.
4. Scramble the egg in a small bowl, and using a fork.
5. Brush the egg onto the edges of each of the puff pastry squares with a pastry brush.
6. Place 4 or so wedges onto each square. 
7. Now fold the squares over diagonally, to make little triangular turnovers. Be sure get all the apple within them, and then pinch the edges close.
8. Place the turnovers in the baking dish
9. Brush the tops of the turnovers with the egg wash, and cut 2-3 slits on the tops of the turnovers for steam to come out.
10. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve immediately