Polish Tartlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the squares
Roll puff pastry thin and cut into 2-1/2-inch squares.
Brush each square with egg white.
Fold down the corners so they meet in the middle of each piece.
Slightly press the two pieces together.
Brush the assembled pieces with egg white again.
Sift sugar over the pieces.
Bake and fill
Bake in a quick oven for about 1/4 hour (15 minutes).
When done, make a small hole in the middle of each pastry.
Fill the hole with apricot jam, marmalade, or red-currant jelly.
Serve
Arrange the filled tartlets high in the centre of a dish, on a napkin, and garnish with the same preserve.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Puff pastry
- Forms flaky, layered structure that rises and separates as it bakes.
- Egg white (in the method)
- Glazes the pastry, helping it brown and take on a glossy sheen.
- Sugar (in the method)
- Sifted over the top, it adds sweetness and helps the surface brown in the oven.
- Apricot jam (in the method)
- Fills the centre with sweet, fruity flavour and moisture after baking.
The step that matters
Make the hole after baking, not before. Puff pastry rises strongly in the oven, so a hole cut before baking would close or distort. Cutting it once the pastry is set keeps the well open for the jam.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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