_TARTS_

APPLE TART

Line a deep pie-tin with pastry, fill half full of apple sauce, and cover with quartered apples cooked until soft in lemon syrup. Sprinkle with claret and powdered sugar, bake, and serve cold.

APPLE CREAM TART

Line a deep baking-dish with pastry and put in three cupfuls of peeled, cored, and quartered apples, the grated rind and juice of a lemon, three-fourths cupful of brown sugar, and a sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg. Bake until the apples are done, cool, and cover with whipped cream sweetened to taste and flavored with grated lemon peel.

APRICOT TART

b.u.t.ter a pastry ring, line with paste and bake. Spread with marmalade, cover with apricots, sprinkle with sugar and maraschino, heat for a few minutes, and serve cold with the apricot syrup. Other fruits may be used in the same way.

CHERRY TART

Mix a cupful each of sugar and stoned cherries with one egg well-beaten with a teaspoonful of flour. Turn into a pie-tin lined with pastry, cover with narrow strips of crust, and bake. Other fruits may be used in the same way.

CHOCOLATE CREAM TART

Grate a square of chocolate into a pint of milk and bring to the boil, sweetening to taste. Thicken with one tablespoonful of flour rubbed smooth with a little cold milk, take from the fire, add a tablespoonful of b.u.t.ter and the yolks of four eggs well-beaten. Line patty-pans with pastry, fill with the cream, and bake. Take from the oven, cover with meringue, and brown.

FRUIT TART

Line a deep pie-tin with pastry and bake, take from the oven, fill with fresh or stewed and sweetened fruit, and cover with a meringue made of the whites of three eggs beaten to a stiff froth and three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. Bake until brown and serve either hot or cold. Peaches, pears, plums, rhubarb, or other fruit may be used.

GERMAN APPLE TART

Line a shallow baking-pan with pastry and fill with peeled, cored, and sliced apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon and powdered sugar and bake for forty minutes in a moderate oven.

GOOSEBERRY TART

Simmer a pint of gooseberries until soft in a thick syrup. Line a pie-tin with pastry and put on a border of the paste about an inch wide. Press down lightly, fill with the gooseberries and cross the tart with narrow twisted strips of paste, moistening with cold water at each end to make them adhere. Bake for twenty minutes in a hot oven and serve very cold with whipped cream.

GRAPE TART--I

Stem the grapes and cook in syrup until thick and soft, rub through a sieve and cool. Line patty-pans with pastry, fill with the grapes, and bake. Cover with meringue or whipped cream if desired.

GRAPE TART--II

Line a deep pie-tin with pastry, brush with thick syrup, and fill with white grapes. Sprinkle with six tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar and a winegla.s.sful of white wine. Bake and serve either hot or cold. Other grapes may be used in the same way.

NEAPOLITAN TARTS

Roll rich pastry thin, cut into strips, bake in a quick oven and put together with jam or jelly between. Cover with frosting and serve cold.

PEACH TART

Roll rich pastry thin and bake three crusts in pie-tins. Cool, put together with crushed and sweetened peaches, chill and serve with whipped cream. Other fruits may be used in the same way.

PEACH TART MERINGUE

Line a border mould with pastry, fill half full with peach jam, bake, cool, cover with meringue, and return to the oven until puffed and brown. Fill the centre with whipped cream if desired. Other jams may be used in the same way.

PEACH CREAM TART

Line a deep pie-tin with good pastry and fill it two-thirds full with canned peaches that have been cooked for two or three minutes in boiling syrup. Cover with a rather thick crust and do not pinch down the edges. When cool, remove the top crust and fill with a cream made as follows: Boil a cupful of milk, and thicken with a tablespoonful of sugar mixed with a teaspoonful of cornstarch wet in cold milk. When smooth and thick, take from the fire, add the whites of two eggs beaten to a stiff froth, and a few drops of vanilla or almond extract.

Cool, pour over the peaches, cover with the crust, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve.

PLUM TART--I

Line a deep tin with pastry, fill with preserved plums, cover with crust, brush with beaten egg, bake, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve cold.

PLUM TART--II

Line a deep baking-dish with pastry and bake. Fill half full of boiled rice cooked in milk and sweetened to taste and cover with pitted plums which have been cooked soft in thin syrup. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, dot with b.u.t.ter, bake, and serve hot.

RASPBERRY CREAM TART

Line a deep pie-tin with pastry, fill with raspberries, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and cover with crust but do not press down the edges.

Bake in a moderate oven. Thicken a cupful of milk with a teaspoonful of cornstarch rubbed smooth with a little cold milk, add a tablespoonful of sugar, a few drops of vanilla, and the stiffly beaten whites of two eggs; cook until smooth and thick. Lift the top crust from the pie, pour in the custard, cover, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve cold.

RASPBERRY AND CURRANT TART

Line a deep pie-tin with pastry and fill with alternate layers of raspberries and currants, sprinkling each layer with sugar. Sprinkle with sugar, dot with b.u.t.ter, and bake. Cover with meringue and serve cold.

RHUBARB TARTS