Italian Grape Tartlets Recipe with Pastry Cream

THE PASTA FROLLA

1. Place the flour on your work surface and make a little well in the center. Next, gently add the sugar, lemon zest (optional), a pinch of salt, and some room-temperature eggs.
2. Add the butter straight from the refrigerator and mix. Knead the dough quickly until it's smooth and not sticky.
3. Form a loaf, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

THE PASTRY CREAM

1. In a saucepan mix the egg yolks with the sugar, using a wooden spoon. Then add the sifted flour a little bit at a time.
2. Keep stirring for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is blended. Then set aside.
3. Bring the milk close to boiling, but not quite there yet. Once it's hot, take it off the heat and start pouring it slowly into your mix of sugar, eggs, and flour. Don't forget to keep stirring! Get it back on the stove on low heat and keep stirring for another 3-4 minutes.
4. When the cream is well thickened, immediately pour it into a cold container. Cover the cream with cling film and let it cool in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

THE BAKING

1. When the shortcrust is ready and well cooled, remove it from the refrigerator. Roll it out with a rolling pin to a thickness of 4-5 mm (~⅕ inch). Cut out squares of pastry slightly larger than the tartlet pans. Grease and flour the tartlet pans. Using your hands, make sure the pastry adheres perfectly to the edges.
2. Remove any excess pastry. Prick the bottoms of the tartlets with the prongs of a fork. Place a sheet of baking paper on top of the tartlet case. Add rice, beans, or the special ceramic weights for tarts and pies. These are used to keep the dough from puffing up during baking. Using a fork, press down on the edges of the tart crust to create a decoration.
3. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F) in the middle of the oven for about 12 to 13 minutes. The mini tarts are done when they are lightly browned on top.
4. Remove from oven and allow to cool

DECORATE

1. Fill each tart with pastry cream. You can use a pastry bag to help if you like. Spoon the filling up to the rim of the pan.
2. Wash the grapes thoroughly. Discard bruised or overripe and mushy grapes. It's very important to dry the grapes well. Then separate the berries from the bunch. You can use the berries whole or cut them in half. Of course, it's ideal to use seedless grapes for this recipe. Otherwise, it's definitely better to cut all the grapes in half and patiently remove the seeds.
3. Arrange the grapes on the pastry cream so that they are well sunken in. We chose to arrange them randomly, mixing white and black grapes, using some whole grapes and others halved.
4. Dust the tartlets with powdered sugar and serve.