Mini Fruit Tarts

Work's been busy lately so my dessert making has been even more sporadic… I decided to be lazy the other day and made mini fruit tarts for CG. Actually they weren't so "mini" since I couldn't find mini sized tart shells and had to settle for regular sized ones. I also couldn't find the main fruit that I wanted to use (strawberries) after going to 3 different supermarkets. Why is it that you can never find something when you really need it, but afterward you'll find 50 of the same thing??

Even though I prepared the custard filling ahead of time, I'm surprised that the tarts still took a bit of time to put together.  I've used this recipe for the custard before, but this time it came out a bit too solid after a night in the fridge.  Perhaps I used a bit too much cornflour… and the egg yolks seemed smaller than usual… anyway it didn't come out as the soft custard that I wanted it to be.  I'll try another recipe next time!

You know what I wish?  That eggs could be bought pre-separated (is that even a word?) into yolks and whites.  This recipe only uses egg yolks so I'm stuck with 3 unusued egg whites in the end.  I have no idea what to do with them… I guess I could make something like meringue which requires egg whites.  Problem is that by the time I'm finished making my first dessert, it's usually quite late already and I don't have the energy to make anything else.  =P

Ingrdients:
Pastry:
24 mini tart shells (store-bought)

Creme Patisserie:
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup whole milk

Method:

1. Whisk yolks with sugar, flour and cornstarch.
2. Meanwhile, bring milk and vanilla to a boil.
3. Add milk slowly to egg mixture to temper.
4. Once tempered, add egg mixture back into saucepan over low heat until thickened like vanilla pudding.
5. Cool, then refrigerate until time to stuff pastry shells, then top with fruit garnish.
6. To glaze, melt about 2 tbsp apricot preserves with a tbsp of water on the stove top and gently brush onto fruit.