Merida’s Spell Cakes

Makes six mini tarts

Ingredients: 

Pâte Brisée

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2  teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1  cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 4-5 tablespoons ice water

Pie Filling

• 3 cups blueberries
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 large egg, beaten
• Confectioner’s sugar
• Blueberry preserves

Equipment

• 5″ biscuit cutter
• 3″ biscuit cutter
• Silicone muffin pan
• Melon baller

Instructions:

1.Make Pâte Brisée – Place the flour, salt, and sugar into a food processor and pulse until well combined. Cube butter and add half to the food processor; pulse. Add the other half of the butter cubes; pulse. Mixture should resemble a coarse meal with pieces no larger than peas. Add three tablespoons of ice cold water to the food processor bowl and pulse several times. Then add a little more ice water, slowly, a teaspoon at a time, pulsing several times after each addition, until the mixture just barely begins to clump together. Remove the crumbly mixture from the food processor and place on a clean flat surface. Using your hands, press the dough together to form a ball and flatten into a disk. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for one hour.

2. Make pie filling – in a medium saucepan, combine blueberries, granulated sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest and lemon juice. Warm over medium-low heat stirring occasionally. Heat until the mixture thickens, about 8 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.

3. Prepare pastry – When you are ready to roll out the dough, remove the disk from the refrigerator and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes so that it becomes easier to roll out. Place the dough disk on a lightly floured, clean flat surface. Sprinkle some flour on top of the disk. Roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 of an inch thick. Using a biscuit, cut the dough into six 5-inch circles. Next, cut out six 3-inch circles. Set aside.

4. Assemble tarts –  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Gently press pastry circles into a muffin pan. Fill each reservoire with blueberry filling (approximately 3 tablespoons). Place a small pastry circle over the blueberry pie filling and gently crimp the edges together to seal. Using a small sharp knife, cut an “X” in the center of each tart. Baste with egg wash.

5. Bake tarts – Bake at 400 degrees for 20-22 minutes until the pies are golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Carefully remove from the muffin pan and place on a baking rack to cool to room temperature.

6. Decorate tarts – Dust tarts with powdered sugar. Using a small spoon or melon baller press into the center of each tart to create a small cavity. Spoon blueberry preserves into the cavity.