Braided Fruit Tartlets

I love these flaky little tarts! They’re sweet, tangy, buttery and so delicious! My amazing mother manage to find me a huge bag of flour as well as a GIANT 25 pound bag of rice, so expect some hardcore cooking and baking! I’ll include the recipe for the laminated puff pastry shell in another post because it’s a looong process. Unless you wanna spend three hours making it I’d recommend buying the store bought variety. This makes about half a dozen tartlets depending on the size you prefer.

1 Puff Pastry Sheet; homemade or store bought
1 pound Fruit of choice; reserving several slices for garnish (I prefer lemon, pear, blood orange and kiwi!)
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
1 cup White Sugar
2 cups Water
1 teaspoon cold Water
1 teaspoon Cornstarch
1 medium Egg; beaten
Pinch of Flake Salt (optional)

Roll out pastry and use a cookie cutter to cut out 6 small tartlets using one half of the pastry sheet, placing on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Cut the other half into thin strips and braid, placing everything in the fridge every 10 minutes if they start getting too warm. It’s CRITICAL that the dough stays cold or it won’t flake. Set everything in the fridge or freezer while you prepare the filling.
Core and chop your preferred fruit and place in saucepan with sugar, water and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce to low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400°F.
In a small bowl, whisk cold water and cornstarch, then add it to the fruit mixture. Whisk until thickened.
Brush the outer edges of the puff pastry cut outs with egg wash and form the braided pastry into a circle the same size as the border of the cutout. Brush the tops liberally with egg wash and fill with fruit filling until it almost reaches the top.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until crust is golden and flaky. Sprinkle with flake salt and serve.
Enjoy!