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This is a hodgepodge of several different recipes. The cream pat recipe I found at confessionsofabakingqueen.com and I halved the recipe. The crust is based upon one found at Taste of Home. FYI, they say this makes a 9″ tart crust, so if you want to make one big one instead of four little ones, go for it. The stewed mandarins I just made up. This is written in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis. I sent a picture of the finished product to my daughter and she said I get bonus points for making canned fruit looked good. I’m offended. It’s not canned fruit. I stewed those fresh mandarin oranges this afternoon! So there!

• Ingredient List
• Cream Patisserie
• Crust
• Jelly or Jam
• Fruit, any kind (stewed Mandarin recipe found below)

• Cream Patisserie Ingredients
• 1 cup milk
• 2 extra large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1-1/2 Tbsp. corn starch
• Dash salt
• 2 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into chunks
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract or paste

Heat milk in small pan over low heat, do not allow to boil. While that’s happening, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, corn starch, and salt. Whisk for a couple minutes. This will turn a pale yellow color. When the milk has warmed, pour a little bit into the egg yolk mixture and whisk. Whisk in a little more milk. Whisk in a little more. Whisk in all the remaining milk. Pour the mixture back into the pan and whisk over medium heat until it thickens and the large bubbles break slowly. Remove from heat and immediately whisk in cold butter and vanilla. Whisk until butter melts. Let stand for a little while to cool and then cover with cling wrap (set the cling wrap right on top of the cream pat so that a skin does not form) and refrigerate until ready to use. This will yield about 1-1/2 cups of cream patisserie.

• Orange Crust Ingredients
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. orange zest
• 1/8 tsp. vanilla extract or paste
• 1 cup flour

Cream together butter and sugar until well incorporated. Stir in zest and vanilla. Stir in flour until the dough forms a ball. Divide into 4 portions. Prepare 4 mini tart pans by spraying with non-stick spray. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Preheat sheet pan at the same time. Press each portion of dough into tart pan. I start by pressing in the sides and then finish with the center. Prick the dough with a fork. Place the tarts onto the preheated sheet pan and bake for 10 minutes. Keep checking the tart color every minute or so thereafter until they are a golden brown. This is meant to be a crispy cookie-like texture.

• Stewed Mandarin Ingredients
• 3 Mandarin oranges, peeled and segmented, with as much pith removed as possible
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup sugar

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and let simmer 10 minutes. This should result in softened mandarins.

Assembly:

Spread the bottom of the crust with a layer of jam. Dollop cream pat onto the jam. Try to be artistic and spread fruit over the top of the cream patisserie. There are only two of us eating here, so I’m going to assemble one tart every day. I may do it differently every time. I have a lot of homemade jam on-hand.