Hello, beautiful friends!
I thought it would be nice to infuse our indoor/quarantine time with a little Spring today! Townes and I (and our filmographer Marshall) have gotten very creative with our time together, starting a new IGTV series called Little Gourmands Cooking Show. Today we read The Very Hungry Caterpillar / La Oruga Muy Hambrienta and made these fun fruit tarts, inspired by the caterpillar’s glutton fest before spinning her cacoon and stayed contained for 2 weeks. Sound familiar? Here is to hoping we emerge as beautiful, radiant butterflies once this terrible storm passes.
¡Buen provecho! And stay safe!
Amanda
- 1 recipe of pastry cream (separate recipe follows)
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- a few drops lavender essential oil
- 1 tsp Mexican vanilla
- 3 Tablespoons confectioners sugar
- Premade mini filo dough shells or pie shells (12)
- Variety of fruits: mixed berries, plums, mango, pineapple, kiwi, etc.
- Make the pastry cream (recipe below) and refrigerate. Make the whipped cream by beating cream, lavender, vanilla and confectioners sugar on medium speed until stick peaks form. (Do not overbeat!)
- Spoon pastry cream into tartlet shells. Cut fruit as desired and have fun with designs! Add a dollop of whipped cream and refrigerate!
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- pinch of sea salt
- 2 cups whole milk
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk together milk and egg yolks in a glass measuring cup; add to saucepan along with butter and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let boil 1 minute, still whisking; then remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
- Strain pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto surface of cream. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. Just before using, whisk until smooth.

