Boat Tart

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A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with custard.

The categories of 'tart', 'flan', and 'pie' overlap, with no sharp distinctions, though 'pie' is the more common term in the United States.

Early medieval tarts generally had meat fillings, but later ones were often based on fruit and custard.

Tarte Tatin is an upside-down tart, of apples, other fruit, or onions.

Savoury tarts include quiche, a family of savoury tarts with a mostly custard filling; German zwiebelkuchen 'onion tart', and Swiss cheese tart made from Gruyere

Here is a recipe unearthed from a long list of favorites due to a query made by a friend. Boat tarts are small pies I remember buying when I was in highschool. It is shaped like a boat thus the name.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 

1 tbl plus 1 teaspoon sugar 

8 tbl (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pea-sized bits 

1 piece egg beaten with 1 cup iced water 

Egg Wash: 

2 tablespoon water 

1 tablespoon flour 

1 egg yolk 

Cashew Filling: 

3/4 cup sugar 

4 eggs 

1 cup dark corn syrup 

2 tablespoon dark rum 

1 tablespoon vanilla extract 

4 tablespoon melted unsalted butter

2 cups (10 ounces) roasted unsalted cashews 

Procedure:

1. This is basically the same procedure as blind baking for pies.

Shaped pie crust ready for baking blind. Photo by missbossy

• In a large bowl, sift the flour and sugar together. 
• Using a pastry blender, fork or your fingertips, work the butter into the mixture until it resembles coarse meal. 
• Sprinkle on 3 to 4 tablespoons of the egg-water mixture, and mix it in with your fingers until the dough comes together into a ball. 
• Working on a lightly floured surface, take egg-sized pieces of the dough and smear them away from you with the heel of your hand into 6-inch streaks. 
• Scrape up all the streaks of dough and pile them on top of one another to form a disc. 
• Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. 
• Set a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees F. 
• Lightly butter your boat tart pans (Muffin cup molds will also do)
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough. Use a bowl bigger than your tart pan as a pattern. Press on the dough and get the cut circle.
• Fit the dough into the prepared tart pans.
• Trim the excess dough to a 1-inch overhang and double the dough over itself to reinforce the sides (save the trimmings for any emergency patchwork). 
• Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
• Line the tart shell with aluminum foil and weight down with dried beans or pie weights. 
• Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 5 minutes longer or until lightly browned. 
• Patch any visible holes in the shell with the reserved dough scraps. 
• Brush the shell with Egg Wash and return to the oven for 5 more minutes, until the wash is shiny and no longer runny. 
• Transfer to a rack to cool and lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F or 160deg C.

2. Spread the cashews in the partially baked shell and cover with the Cashew Filling, making sure the nuts are covered.

3. Bake for 30 minutes or until little bubbles appear around the edges of the tart and the center looks barely set. 

4. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Egg Wash Procedure:

1. In a small bowl and with use of a fork, mix together the water, flour, and egg yolk. Cover and refrigerate.

Cashew Filling Procedure:

1. In a large bowl, lightly beat the sugar and eggs together. Add the corn syrup, rum, and vanilla and beat just to a blend. Mix in the melted butter.

Tips:

You can make your own homemade light corn syrup as substitute for the market brand. For this easy light corn syrup substitute, click here.

To learn the step by step baking blind procedure, click here.

Egg pie is also known as custard pie. Both the pie and filling for egg pie can be used for this boat tart recipe. For egg pie recipe, click here.

I myself find the idea of putting foil and baking beans on each boat tart pan so  tasking. What I do is I stack them all over each other. This works best also for silicon muffin molds. The top most dough is the only one in need of baking beans. Economical and practical.


Here is a video of how to make blueberry lemon tartlets (also known as mini tarts).

Lemon Meringue Pie

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Fresh lemon juice and lemon rind make this pie's filling tart and lovely. And when it's poured into a waiting crust, topped with billows of meringue, and baked, it's downright dreamy.

Ingredients:

1 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups water

2 lemons, juiced and zested

2 tablespoons butter

4 egg yolks, beaten

1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked

4 egg whites

6 tablespoons white sugar

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

2. To Make Lemon Filling: 

• In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. 
• Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. 
• Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. 
• Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. 
• Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. 
• Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.

3. To Make Meringue: 

• In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. 
• Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. 
• Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

For Crust: Look up our recipe of Pie Crust

How to Make a Fluted Pie Crust

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Learn how to make a decorative border on your pie. 

1. Follow the instructions for making pastry and lining your pie plate. Save any dough scraps for patching cracks or for building up the edges, if needed.

• See Step by step,How to make a Pie Crust

2. Fold the dough under itself onto the flat rim of the pie plate. One of the advantages to making your own crust is that you can build up a higher edge of crust, to better contain the filling (or to hold more filling). Prepackaged crusts are flattened to the edges of the pan, so they don't break in transport.

3. Use the thumb of one hand as a base, and the forefinger and thumb on your other hand to crimp the crust.

4. Continue working your way around the crust, fluting the edge. If you find a spot where the dough's too thin to work with, tuck a piece of scrap dough underneath. Pinch the patched area to seal it together before crimping.

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5. You can also make a wider scalloped edge by using the back of a teaspoon as a guide instead of your fingertips.

6. Lightly cover the dough-lined pie pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour. This lets the dough relax and will help prevent it from shrinking in the oven when it bakes.

7. A note about ingredients: 

Butter vs. Shortening

Shortening (Crisco®) and lard are good for flakiness; they hold their shape better than butter, so your beautifully crimped crust won't sag in the oven. Shortening also makes the dough easier to handle and less prone to cracking. Butter is best for flavor. A combination of the two fats works very well.

Top 10 Pie Tips

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A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that covers or completely contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Pies can be either "filled", where a dish is covered by pastry and the filling is placed on top of that, "top-crust," where the filling is placed in a dish and covered with a pastry/potato mash top before baking, or "two-crust," with the filling completely enclosed in the pastry shell. Pies can be a variety of sizes, ranging from bite-size to ones designed for multiple servings.

Now we can all enjoy making home made pies at home by simply following this online cooking tips on how to make a perfect pie.

1. Keep ingredients cold.

• Butter should be kept refrigerated until using; vegetable shortening, like Crisco®, can be stored in the freezer without freezing solid.
• Add ice cubes to a measuring cup and fill it with more water than you'll need; add cold water to the pastry mixture a tablespoon at a time.

2. Refrigerate the dough after every step.

• Chill dough immediately after mixing so that the flour can absorb all the liquid.
• Chill it after rolling it out and lining the pie pan, to relax the dough and prevent it from shrinking in the oven.
• For double-crust pies, roll out the top crust and refrigerate it on a flat plate or parchment-lined sheet pan while you prepare the pie filling.

3. Handle the dough as little as possible.

Try to patch cracks in your dough rather than re-rolling the crust. Over-handling makes the pastry tough.

4. Use as little flour as possible when rolling out the dough.

The pastry can absorb extra flour, which will also make it tough. After rolling out the dough, brush off loose flour with a pastry brush or gently brush it with the edge of a clean kitchen towel.

5. Bake plain crusts or filled pies in a hot oven to set the crust's structure.

Most recipes call for a high initial temperature and then a reduced oven temperature for the rest of the baking time.

6. Vent double-crust pies.

Cut slits in the top crust or use decorative cutters. This allows steam to escape, which is especially important for fruits with high moisture content.

7. Use aluminum foil or "pie shields" to protect the crust.

Loosely fold two-inch-wide strips of foil around the edges of the crust to keep it from getting too dark during the long bake time.

8. Bake pies on the lowest oven rack on a preheated sheet pan.

This helps prevent soggy bottom crusts. A rimmed pan also prevents juicy fruit pies from bubbling over onto your oven floor.

9. Bake your pies long enough.

Fruit pies, in order to thicken properly, need to be hot enough for the filling to boil. Custard pies are done when a knife tip inserted an inch from the center comes out clean (the center will firm up as the pie cools).

10. Let pies cool before serving.

The filling needs time to set or else the pie will be runny. Fruit pies should cool at least four hours before slicing; custard pies should cool for two hours before serving or being refrigerated.

Egg Pie

                              Photos by Sheryll Ann Deluz


Egg Pie is a sweet Filipino dessert that resembles an egg custard. Though famous in the Philippines and can be seen even in local bakeries, this delicious dessert has not made its own identity outside of the Filipino circle. Basically, it is a custard as based on its definition. Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on a cooked mixture of milk or cream and egg yolk. Depending on how much egg or thickener is used, custard may vary in consistency from a thin pouring sauce (crème anglaise), to a thick pastry cream used to fill éclairs. The most common custards are used as desserts or dessert sauces and typically include sugar and vanilla. Custard bases may also be used for quiches and other savoury foods. Sometimes flour, corn starch, or gelatin is added.

For all of us outside the country who misses this sweet soft pie that could only be called our very own, here is a simple recipe that you can easily prepare at home.

PIE CRUST

1/2 cup butter (cold and cut in cubes)

1/3 cup + 1 tbsp sugar

1 2/3 cup flour

1 egg beaten

1 tsp salt

1/8 cup cold water

Procedure:

1. Mix with fork (or pastry knife) butter, sugar and flour. Add beaten egg and continue mixing. Add 1 tbsp at a time of cold water until lumpy. Form into a ball with your hands and wrap with clingwrap. Refrigerate for 30 mins. 

2. After 30 mins, dust mixing table and rolling pin with flour. Flatten the dough starting at the middle til the end. Do quarter turns till the whole dough has been rolled flat (at least 1/4 inch thick). 

3. Roll the dough on the rolling pin so as to carry it over the pie pan. Unroll and fit the dough making sure not to tear it. Leave 2 inches on all sides. Use kitchen shears or a paring knife to trim the dough to about a half-inch overhang. Save the scraps; you can use those to bulk up thin areas of the crust when you're fluting the edges.

4. Fold the dough under itself onto the flat rim of the pie plate. One of the advantages to making your own crust is that you can build up a higher edge of crust, to better contain the filling (or to hold more filling). Prepackaged crusts are flattened to the edges of the pan, so they don't break in transport. (See topic on how to flute the pan). Put back in fridge for 30 mins to settle the butter within the mixture. 

5. Do blind baking (there are some good tips in youtube). Prick sides of dough with fork to prevent bubbles. Put parchment paper on top then the baking beans. Bake for 200deg C for 15 mins. Remove baking beans and bake for 5 mins more. 

EGG PIE FILLING

2 1/3 cup evap milk

4 eggs separated

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tbsp cornflour

Procedure:

1.Mix flour, sugar, egg yolks and slowly add in milk.

2. On a separate bowl, whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Add this to the flour/milk/yolk mixture using cut and fold technique. Make sure there are no bubbles. 

3. Bake for 180deg C for 20 mins then lower temp to 110deg C for 1 hr. Ready once inserted toothpick in the middle comes out clean.

**Tip: Never use plastic mixing bowl in whipping egg whites for there is always a chance of oil residue left in the bowl. any oil, liquid or yolk will diminish chance of having a nicely whipped whites. ceramic / glass or aluminum mixing bowl is recommended.

Guten Apetit!

Thanks Shirley C-R for the recipe. ;-)