Tartelettes Amandine
Short Pastry
â…“ c confectioners’ sugar
3 ½ tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp plus 2 tsp lightly beaten egg (about ½ egg)
1 tsp water
1 cup all-purpose flour
Almond Filling
3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
¼ c sugar
2 tbsp plus 2 tsp lightly beaten egg (about 1 egg)
½ cup almond flour
2 ½ tsp flour
1 tsp rum (or imitation rum flavoring)
1 vanilla bean, slit lengthwise, seeds scraped out
Topping
Apricot glaze
Sliced almonds
Making the pastry:
Whisk the butter in a mixing bowl until soft and creamy. Add the confectioners’ sugar, whisk until smooth. Combine the eggs and salt and whisk into the mixture. Whisk in the flour. As the mixture gets thicker, change to a sturdy spoon and keep mixing. Turn out onto a work surface and knead the mixture until you have a smooth dough.
Shape into a slightly flattened disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
Making the almond filling:
Cream the butter and sugar together until soft. Beat in the egg. Fold in the almond flour. Once smooth, stir in the all-purpose flour, run, and vanilla seeds. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Creating the Tartelettes:
Preheat the oven to 350* F. Lightly grease 6 mini tartelette pans.
Roll out the dough until about â…›” thick. Line the tartlette pans with the dough.
Spread the almond cream in the pastry-lined tartlette pans, using enough to fill â…” full. Bake for 30 minutes until the cream starts to turn slightly golden, checking at 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and carefully remove from tartelette pans. Allow to cool on a wire rack. Once cooled, brush with apricot glaze and sprinkle with sliced almonds.
Layton & Caroline’s Twelfth Night Cake
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
¼ cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vinegar
¾ cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 egg whites
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line the bottom of three 6-inch round pans with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a small bowl, whisk together milk, sour cream, and vinegar.
In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Mix in vanilla extract. Beat in egg whites one at a time. Once the oven is fully preheated, add flour mixture to egg mixture. Mix. Add milk mixture. Mix. Pour into parchment-lined pans and place in the oven.
Bake for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. The top will not necessarily be golden.
Remove pans from oven and allow cakes to cool completely. Turn out cakes from pans.
Using a knife, make a small slice in one cake, large enough for hiding a coin (can be a party favor version or a real coin wrapped in foil for sanitary purposes) or a bean (wrap in foil first if desired to make it easier to find).
Layer one cake on top of the other, with white buttercream in between. Frost outside of stacked cakes with white buttercream. Decorate, as desired, with white sprinkles, nonpareils, cake flowers, etc.
The person to find the coin or bean in their slice of cake on Twelfth Night is crowned monarch for the night and leads the evening’s festivities.
Yields 6–8 servings.