I've always been fascinated by miniature versions of things. And used to love finding tiny cups, pots, chairs, dolls, etc. in the dollhouse section at my local craft store. Foods are no exception, well some foods. I think I would be more bothered by a tiny pack of saltine crackers, or a hamburger than delighted. But when it comes to fruit tarts, the smaller they get, the more special they become. As I've already made a regular fruit tart, and some tartlets. Now I wanted to go even smaller, and also simplify the whole process. I figured I could do this very simply, by getting a mini tartlet pan that had several wells in it like a cupcake pan. After reading, and re-reading the directions, I made my dough and proceeded to prick it with a fork and bake it as directed. Believing, though I knew better, that the tartlet shells would come out in perfect little cup-like shapes. Well, they came out as flat disks. They tasted good, but could not hold any filling. After this first disappointment, it took me months before I would try again, this time using bits of tin foil and beans inside to help hold the shape. They turned out better this time, but were very irregular where the tin foil creased and molded the dough around it. After more thought and more months I came up with a better idea. To use mini foil cupcake holders instead, and fill those with beans. This worked out much better, and I was finally able to produce my first usable batch of mini tartlet shells. (To the relief of my shrinking ego.)
Making the mini tartlet shells was complicated by using my special pan. I didn't have to deal with a dozen individual molds, but had problems getting the dough to bake up right. With the mid sized tartlets, I had double the amount of pans and had two stacked together to help the dough keep it's shape. That was impossible with my pan. Since I solved my problem with the mini cupcake holders, I figured out that if the dough were frozen before baking, that might help it to hold it's shape too. Something I'll have to try in the future.
