At Zuni we make 12-inch fruit tarts every day. Our method is this: take a shell that we rolled earlier from the freezer and arrange fruit on top. Sprinkle with sugar and put in a 375 degree convection oven for about 20 minutes. Transfer to a 350 degree deck oven for another 20-30 minutes. (Times vary depending on the type of fruit and how juicy it is.)
Once in a while, portions of the bottom do not cook. As far as we can tell, these portions are where the crust has bubbled up during baking.
Has anyone run into this problem? Any suggestions on how to fix it?
Posts
4 comments:
You're a pastry chef and I'm just a home cook, so I'm thinking you know this, but, do you dock the crusts to lessen the amount of bubbling up.
Beyond that, I haven't a clue.
Good idea, the only problem is if we dock the crust juice leaks through and causes the crust to stick to the pan.
MAYBE . . . can you dock the crust and parbake it before placing the fruit on top?
Also, I know lightly brushing the crust with melted cocoa butter creates a fat barrier so juice, any moisture from fillings, etc. can't leak through. That works if you just bake the crust/shell by itself, cool it, then fill it. I don't know how well it works if you're putting it back in the oven.
Hey Julie! Good ideas. The only problem with that is we want the fruit to bake with the tart crust.
Good news...I think Jen figured it out. What we do now is aggresively poke the bubbles as they come up. The bubbles start after 10 minutes in the convection oven. After that point, we check the tart every two minutes and poke the bubbles with a paring knife until they lay flat. It's an involved process, but leaks have been minimal and the entire crust gets baked with no raw spots. Yay!
Post a Comment