Fruit Tartlets

As I sit here in class (and obviously not paying attention), I realize that I'm horrible with updating this website. I am also not a good student if I don't even bother to pay attention! I think that to keep my sanity, this would be a way for me to have a form of release and to take my mind off things. Anyways, I thought I would talk about the fruit tartlets I made for my baby niece's 1-month celebration (she's 6 1/2 months now... so fast!).

I have never been good with giving gifts. If I don't know what to buy for a person or if I can't afford it, I hate to shop. I prefer to bake. Not only is it kinder to my wallet, but it's more personal and made with love! (corny, I know)

When figuring out what to make, I had to keep in mind that Hong, her mother, and that side of the family wasn't too big on sweets and pastries. That made things tough because that's what I know. They all love fruit, but I didn't want to just bring the fruit on a platter - I still wanted to have a beautiful presentation where everyone would get something bite-sized that contained a piece of each fruit. As I went shopping the day before, I chose to use strawberries, kiwi, canned mandarin oranges, and blueberries.

I had used a store bought pie dough for the shells. Sadly enough, I have plenty of baking experience, but little to none on making pies and pie crust. I like to blame it on the fact that I don't have a food processor, and am not willing to buy one just for baking purposes. The main factor was that, as I was browsing after picking the fruit at my local Safeway, I discovered that the dough was on sale for extremely cheap.

In order to make them in perfect little cups, I cut small circles with a 2inch cookie cutter and fit them into mini cupcake pans, poked little holes in them, and baked them just until the edges were browning. I piped in just enough homemade custard to fill the bottom, then assembled the fruit (that I cleaned and sliced beforehand) the way I thought would be pretty. I glazed them prior to leaving for the party, and they were actually quite a hit. None of my brother's friends knew that there was a baker in the family, so they all thought it was store bought. The custard was a bit rich on its own, but was balanced out with the crust and the fruit.

late new years?

The start of my new year sucked, plain and simple. The midnight strike occurred when I was in the shower lol... There isn't much you can do when you get off at about 11pm (yes, I finally have a job) and all of your friends are out of town celebrating...

The only thing I was happy with that day... was my NYE red velvet cupcakes. It was a hit with the coworkers (one ate freaking 4!!).