Mini Mango Tarts

Buongiorno! For those who don't follow me on Instagram I'm currently typing this post in sunny Italy, where A and I attended our friends', the now Mr and Mrs M's wedding. The wedding itself was absolutely stunning, set in a castle in Chianti, Tuscany and surrounded by vineyards and many, many olive trees.

The surrounding view from the pool. How amazing is this??!

It was so surreal, almost too good to be true. The weather was perfect, the food amazing and I can't express how nice it was to spend a few days with friends known since high school and how incredibly honoured I felt to be invited to share Mr and Mrs M's special day.

The pool, table set up and castle gardens.

With all the marriage celebrations over, A and I have a few more days in Italy before flying home. So for the last few days we're staying in Castel San Gimignano, a small village we've stayed in before that's not too far from the wedding venue. The weather is still lovely and hot, although a bit cloudy today (which actually is a nice change!) Hopefully when we get back to the UK the good weather they're currently having will stay a little longer.

Ok, so enough gloating at how much of an amazing time I'm having. You may be wondering why I'm waffling about travels and ultimately how does this post relate to the first photo of mini mango tarts? Summer and in general sunny weather always makes me think of fresh fruit. Mangoes rank in my top 3 favourite fruits. Mangoes. Strawberries. Watermelon.

I actually made these tarts for my Dad on Father's Day a few weeks back but I've been so busy with work and packing for the wedding I never got round to writing about these until now (whilst sitting in our little Italian apartment, sunny outside. Again, not gloating whatsoever.) These are so quick to make and assemble, which was perfect as I was a little tight on time that weekend. My dad like me, also loves mangoes. Originally I'd intended to use Thai mangoes as I'd spotted some in the supermarket earlier- I feel Thai mangoes are much more fragrant and these to us are what mangoes should taste like (I always raid the fruit stalls when we go back to Hong Kong) but in the end I had to settle for regular mangoes.

The pastry shells are based on the recipe I'd used for my mince pies but you may use shop bought ready made shortcrust pastry, if you prefer. With a generous piping of crème pâtissière and topped with fresh mangoes, this is a perfect sunshine-y summer time dessert.

MINI MANGO TARTS
Pastry recipe from BBC Food
Crème Pâtissière adapted from BBC Food
Yields approx. 24 mini tarts

Crème Pâtissière

4 medium free-range egg yolks
80g caster sugar
15g plain flour, sifted
15g corn flour, sifted
150ml double cream
200ml semi skimmed milk
Seeds from one vanilla pod

Tart Pastry Shells

200g plain flour
40g caster sugar
75g ground almonds
125g cold unsalted butter, diced
1 large egg

To Decorate

2 large mangoes, cut and sliced into thin strips
Honey/ apricot jam to glaze

1. For the crème pâtissière: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until a pale golden colour. Whisk in the flour and cornflour, ensuring no lumps remain and set aside.
2. Place the milk, cream, vanilla pod and seeds into a heavy bottomed saucepan and heat until the brink of boiling.
3. Slowly pour half of the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so the eggs don't scramble. Add the mixture to the remaining milk in the pan. Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer, whisking all the time, until the mixture is thick and smooth (approx 1 minute). Press the thick custard through a sieve to get rid of any lumps that may be remaining. Cover with cling film so that the cling film touches the surface of the crème pât and leave to cool. Once cool refrigerate until ready to use.
4. For the tart shells: Place the flour, sugar, ground almonds and butter into a food processor and blitz until it resembles bread crumbs. You may wish to rub the butter in by hand if you don't have a food processor.
5. Add the egg and mix until a dough starts forming. Do not overmix! (Unless you like tough, rubbery pastry!) Gather into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 
6. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Lightly grease a 12 hole muffin/cupcake tray with butter.
7. Flour the work surface and roll out the dough to approximately 2mm thick. Using a circle cookie cutter (I used a 8cm cutter) cut out 12 circles large enough to fill the base of the prepared tin. Press the dough gently into each hole in the tin.
8. Prick the tart shells all over with a fork or pointy knife. Line the pastry with foil or baking paper and fill with ceramic baking beans/ rice/ dried beans. Blind bake the shells for 15 minutes, remove the foil/baking paper and beans and bake for a further 8-10 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
9. Remove the shells from the muffin/cupcake tray and cool thoroughly.
10. Pipe/ spoon a generous amount of crème pâtissière into each pastry shell and arrange the mango strips into a rose/flower shape. (You may wish to skip this, and top with small cubed pieces of mango.)
11. Gently warm some apricot jam/ honey and brush over the mango with a pastry brush. Store the tarts in an airtight container in the fridge.