Here are a few that we like. You can make any favourite tart recipe into mini tarts. Ann Home Cookin 4.9 Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table =================================== Source: Appeal Magazine Shortbread crust 1 cup butter softened 1/2 cup icing sugar 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch Filling 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice 1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest 1 cup granulated sugar 3 eggs well beaten 1/2 cups butter at room temperature . Preheat oven to 325°F. Combine shortbread ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix to form dough. Divide dough into 24 pieces. Pat each portion of dough into a 1 1/2" (4 cm) tart tin, using your fingers to shape it into a shell. Prick the bottom of each tart with a fork. Bake 10 minutes and then prick bottoms again as the shells puff up. Bake an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow tarts to cool on a wire rack before filling. To prepare lemon filling, combine juice and zest in a double boiler. Whisk in sugar, eggs and butter, blending well. Place over gently boiling water and whisk constantly until mixture thickens. Cool before using to fill tart shells. Lemon filling can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. (Note: I did not cook using a double boiler. I added the juice, zest, sugar and butter to the pot and brought to a boil. Then I beat the eggs and added some of the hot mixture to the eggs to temper before adding this egg mixture to the pan. I continued to stir over low heat until the mixture thickened.) Home Cookin 4.9 Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Peanut butter and chocolate cookie Tarts ======================================== Dough 3/4 cup butter 3/4 cup peanut butter smooth 3/4 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup white sugar 1 egg 1 egg yolk 2 tsp vanilla 2 1/4 cups flour 3/4 teaspoon baking soda Chocolate filling 4 oz semisweet chocolate 2 Tablespoons cocoa 1/3 cup butter 2 cups sifted Icing Sugar . Cream butter with peanut butter until very smooth. Beat in sugars. Beat in egg and yolk. Add vanilla. Sift flour with baking soda and mix well. Stir into butter mixture. Press balls of dough into well buttered mini muffin tins. Each ball of dough should be about 3/4's the size of the muffin tin - when you intent the centre it should form the shape of a pudgy little tart shell. Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 15 minutes or until ouside is baked but inside is still chewy. Do not over bake. Cool five minutes on rack and then remove from tins. Cool completely. Filling Combine chocolate, cocoa, milk and butter in small saucepan. Melt over low heat. Mix until smooth. Cool. Beat in icing sugar to give consistencey of icing. Pipe about 1 tablespoon of filling into each tart. Note: YOu can spoon the filling in to the centre, but it looks nicer when piped. Home Cookin 4.9 Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table ============ 1/4 cup butter at room temperature 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice 1 cup maple syrup 1 cup walnut halves Optional - 1/2 cup currants or raisins water . Blend together the butter and brown sugar. Beat the eggs lightly and stir into the butter and brown sugar and add the corn syrup. (You can substitute Corn syrup for all or part of the Maple syrup.), add vanilla and raisins if using. Fill tart shells about two thirds full. Bake at 375°F for 15 to 20 minutes or until pastry is golden. The filling in these tarts is runny. Do not over bake or the filling will firm up. Let tarts set in the tins for about 3 minutes. Remove carefully and cool on racks. Makes about twenty 3 inch tarts. Home Cookin 4.9 Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table Butter-Lard Pastry ================== 2 cups all purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup butter 1/3 cup lard (or shortening) 5 to 6 tablespoons of ice water (note: if using for a sweet pie, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of sugar.) . Mix flour with salt, and cut in butter and lard. (Note: I use the cuisinart to cut in my fat and then move the mixture to a bowl to add the water by hand). I like to have to do this by feel which I find I can't do by machine) Put flour mixture in bowl and add water mixing with a fork until pastry comes together. Form in to a ball and cut in two pieces. Form each into a round flat disc and refrigerate for 1 hour.

The tart pans I have are 2 parts so you just push up from the bottom & the tart comes right out. I never have a problem. However a year or so ago, I made a lemon tart with just a freeform tart ring (sort of flower shaped) with no bottom & put the dough in the ring & prebaked it on a cookie sheet. It was a lemon tart from the Joy of Baking site. The crust was so tender & flaky it shattered when I tried to remove it so now I bake it in the 2 part type tart tin.

You can use it if you're not scared of doing a little math. You need to determine the area of both circles--the old Î r squared deal (I can't get it to look like a formula when I paste it in here). That's 3.14 times the radius of the circle squared. The 10-inch one comes out to 78.5, and the 11-inch one is about 95, which works out to the larger pan's being about 120% the size of the smaller one. So all you have to do is increase the ingredients by 20% and you'll fill the larger pan as the original recipe would fill the smaller one. Easy for me to say, right? Not so much. But if you don't let your brain seize up with math anxiety (I have to stop and take deep breaths frequently), it's not all that hard.

I always made this in my springform which was shallow (under an inch). It had a fluted edge so presentation was great. Plus being able to serve it on any pretty plate. You will love yours. Pumpkin Cheesecake (1/2 recipe) 1 - 9-inch graham cracker crust 16 oz cream cheese 3/4 c. sugar 2 x-lg eggs or 3 small 1/8 c. flour 3/4 c. canned pumpkin 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice Preheat oven to 325 F. Beat cream cheese smooth; slowly beat in sugar; slowly beat in eggs. Beat in remaining ingred.; pour into crust. Bake 1 1/2 hrs. ================ pumpkin spice substitute: 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp ginger 1/4 tsp nutmeg or mace some recipes more ginger, some more cinnamon =============== alternate type of graham crust for 9-inch springform 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (less than one pkg.) 1/2 cup pecans, toasted & coarsely ground 1 T. sugar 2 T. br. sugar (opt.) 1 T. pumpkin pie spice 1/4 cup butter 350 F., 8-10 min.(prebake if using with a no-bake filling)