Stone Fruit Tartlets with Rough Puff Pastry

The WWOOFers manhandled these tartlets. The three of them showed up on a Monday, fell in love with each other, and then, under feigned personal duress and believable tremendous confusion, ditched the farm that Wednesday morning to pursue their triad; somewhere along the line they pounded back all of the desserts, drank a lot of Twisted Tea, and left skivvies tacked to a chair in the basement. “You know, when I grow up,” mused the 23-year-old, “what I really want to do is become a foodie. I think I’d like that.” Arlene and I snorted into our beers, and we would have dumped them on his head had we known that later that night he would announce with deep solemnity that the three of the them were forgoing the endless opportunity to learn to make incredible food so they could get it on somewhere else. 

While we all worked on cheese and goats, the three of them horsed around in the shower and waxed poetic about what it’s like to “work hard” and be away from home. And even though they thus annoyed me to hell and the shared farm attitude was “fuck ‘em,” in a backwards way I almost appreciate their inanity because it brought levity to the farm once they were gone—a fun story to tell my folks about the spoiled Oberlin kids gone awry. Plus, they were totally nuts about these tartlets, if that’s any kind of endorsement. Don’t have any stone fruit? Use apple slices! Or pears. Or pralines. Don’t have any sluggish WOOFers with whom to share them? Toast to your lucky stars.

Stone Fruit Tartlets

Yields about 12 to 15 tartlets, depending on size

Adapted from Apt. 2B Baking Co. and Not Without Salt

This was my first time making rough puff pastry, and while you can see that I overbaked it some and my fruit pieces were a wee wack, I am in love with this recipe. I am also in love with Yossy of Apt. 2B Baking Co. for always having the most easily beautiful photos and recipes to share. Not so much in love that I’d ditch my farm to run away together, but enough so that her blog inspires me every day. Read it!

For Rough Puff Pastry
Below is one-half of a full recipe, which is just what you'll need to make about one dozen to 15 tartlets. See full proportions and a photo tutorial here if you'd like.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
3 1/4 sticks (26 tablespoons) unsalted, very cold butter, cut into half-inch cubes
1/2 cup very cold water

1.  Sift together dry ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add butter chunks, and mix on the lowest speed for 30 seconds. Drizzle the water over the top and mix on the lowest speed for 15 seconds. (You can also do this whole step by hand using a bench scraper, if you'd rather.)

2.  Dump flour mixture onto clean counter or pastry board. Using your hands and a bench scraper, push the crumbly mass into a long rectangle, with the long end parallel to your body. Using the bench scraper, fold the right third of the dough over into the center and then the left third of the dough into the center on top; it's like folding a business letter. Rotate the dough 90 degrees.

3.  Reshape and push the dough into a rectangle again. Repeat the folding and turning two more times for a total of three times folded. If the dough becomes soft, just refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes and continue. Once you've completed your turns, wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

4.  Remove dough from fridge and repeat process with three more turns. Where in the previous round your were mostly using your hands to push and shape the dough, a well-floured rolling pin will the do the trick now that the dough is more pliable. After the three turns (for a grand total of six), let dough rest, wrapped in fridge for 30 minutes; your dough is now ready to use! When baking, remember to preheat the oven for about an hour ahead of time, if you can.

For Assembly and Baking
As Yossy warns, these bake best in a very hot oven and when the pastry is very cold, almost frozen. My second batch puffed much more nicely than my first, so be sure to pre-heat your oven for a good while, and don't skimp on the freezer time for the pastry squares.

Rough puff pastry (see above)
5 to 7 pieces of stone fruit (one nectarine or peach will yield three tartlets if you slice well; one small plum or apricot will yield two)
1 egg + 1 tablespoon water, beaten with a fork until no streaks remain
1 teaspoon raw or large-grain sugar per tartlet
Powdered sugar for dusting, if desired

1. At least an hour prior to baking, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment. When ready to bake, on a lightly floured surface, roll out rough puff pasty to a quarter-inch thick, keeping it as close to a rectangle as you can. With a knife or bench scraper, cut pastry into squares, three or four inches on each side (plums fit well on three-inch squares, but I wish I'd gone bigger for nectarines). Move squares to cookie sheets, and chill in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes.

2.  Meanwhile, halve and pit your stone fruit. Cut the halves into eighth-inch slices, keeping them together so that they're easy to fan out across the pastry. When the pastry is very cold, brush the tops with your egg wash. Arrange tartlets on sheets with an inch or so of space between. Sprinkle each square with about half a teaspoon of sugar, fan the fruit across, and top with the rest of the sugar so that each tartlet has about one teaspoon total. Brush the excess sugar from the pans so that it doesn't blacken in the oven (like mine did), and bake your tartlets for 15 to 20 minutes, until they're lightly golden (I went a little long on the ones pictured). Allow to cool for about ten minutes, and enjoy! They'll keep covered at room temperature for about three days, softening a little bit each day.