Stir just until combined. Mixture will appear dry.
Use your hands to fold dough over 2-3 times and form dough into a ball
Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes
Divide dough into 6 pieces
Form each piece into a small round and then place in mini tart pans. Use your fingers to form dough into pan. Push dough down so it's flat on the bottom and fills the sides.
Prick dough, or dock dough with a fork
Refrigerated dough for an additional 30 minutes
Preheat oven to 375°F
Line each tart with parchment paper or foil and fill with pie weights. You can also use dried beans or rice.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until the bottom of the dough has set and is no longer tacky
Remove parchment and pie weights
Return shells to the oven and bake for another 4-6 minutes until shells are lightly browned and cooked through
Cool on a baking rack and then remove from pans
Pastry Cream (Crème Pâtissière)
Place milk in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.
1 ½ cups whole milk
In a large bowl whisk sugar, egg yolks and cornstarch together until smooth
2 tablespoons cornstarch, ⅓ cup granulated sugar, 4 egg yolks
Once the milk starts to bubble at the edges of the pan, remove from heat
Very slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture while whisking
Pour mixture back into saucepan and return to medium low heat
Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and is bubbling. Cook for one minute then turn off heat.
Whisk in vanilla and butter, one tablespoon at a time
2 teaspoons vanilla, 2 tablespoons butter
Pour pastry cream through a fine mesh sieve. You will need to use a spatula to push through the sieve.
Place plastic wrap directly on pastry cream and refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 3 hours or up to two days
Assemble the tarts
Fill tarts with pastry cream
Top with raspberries
2 cups raspberries
Heat jam with one tablespoon water in the microwave for 30-60 seconds until hot and bubbly. Stir well.
2 tablespoons apricot jam, 1 tablespoon water
Brush hot jam over the top of the berries
Notes
There are a lot of steps for making these mini tarts. Read through the entire recipe before beginning.
The tart shells and the pastry cream can be made up to two days prior to assembling and serving the tarts.
Use cold butter when making the dough for the tart crusts
Refrigerate the dough before forming into tins
If not using the crust shells right away, store fully cool crusts in an airtight container
When adding the butter to the pastry cream, make certain it is after you've removed the pastry cream from the heat. Whisk in completely one tablespoon at a time.
Make certain you place the plastic wrap directly on the pastry cream. This will prevent a skin from forming on the surface.
Once the tarts are assembled, they are best eaten right away. If you need to make them ahead of time, cover and refrigerate.