Elegant & Easy White Chocolate Fruit Tarts

One of my favorite desserts is the fruit tart~ creamy custard with glazed fruit on a sweet dough... Heavenly! The only problem is they are super expensive at the bakery, not much less at the grocery store, and a pain to make at home (that is, if you can get the custard and/or glaze to set and be pretty, which I have never. ever. done. Mine don't even look edible. UGH!)
So I went on with my life, unable to make pretty pastries and unwilling to shell out some major dough for such a little indulgence until one day....

Enter in a Pampered Chef Party. I won't go into the details, but I left with a killer recipe for quick and easy, not to mention insanely yummy, fruit tarts. The recipe was meant to be for some sort of dessert cups, but I've tweaked it just a little to make fruit tarts instead. Did I mention they are no bake and only take about 20-25 minutes?

Now are you ready to whip up some tarts?

Here's what you'll need:

Small box Instant Jello Pudding- White Chocolate Flavor

1 Cup Milk

1 cup chocolate chips (I like minis because they melt better)

1 cup White Chocolate Chips

8 oz Cool Whip

2 boxes Mini Fillo Cups

Fresh Fruit (my family like blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries or pineapple)

Sliced Almonds

First, you are going to melt the chocolate chips. To do that, you take about a cup of chocolate chips and dump them into a Ziploc bag and place them in the microwave unsealed for 1 min on 50% power. After they are warm, pick up the bag and mash them around to mix up the chocolate. If they are not smooth and melted, continue melting in increments of 20 seconds on 50% power until the chocolate in the baggie is smooth.

Next, take the Fillo Cups out of the box but leaving them in the tray, making sure none are broken or have little pieces inside them. Now you are going to pipe the chocolate into the Fillo Cups. It's not as hard as it sounds. Just seal the bag, making sure there is no air in it, then snip off the tiny corner of the baggie and hold tightly. When you squeeze, the chocolate will go out the hole and into the pastry. Easy-peasy. Do all 30 tarts.

Now for the filling. In a small mixing bowl, pour in a cup of white chocolate chips. You are going to melt these the same way as the other chips, but instead of squishing them around, your are going to stir them (probably because you can't squish glass). Get them all smooth and yummy. Put aside for just a second.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 1 cup cold milk and the package of instant jello pudding for about a minute until the pudding sets. Then mix in the melted white chocolate chips and try not to eat it (because at this stage, it's really concentrated white chocolate... sooooo yummy). Once they are well mixed, you are going to add the 8 oz tub of Cool Whip. Fold in until well mixed.

Now we have to pipe the filling into the cups. This is where I like to pretend I'm a pastry chef at a 5 star restaurant, making decadent desserts for fancy people. Hey- we all have our dreams! Anyway, to pipe the filling, you need to transfer the mixture into a large Ziploc bag, pressing all of the air out and sealing closed. Snip off one corner to make a medium sized hole (I usually start small and test the size of the piping on a plate. If it's too small, cut off a little more until it seems right). Now it's time to pipe! I like the look of swirls, so I make circle around the bottom of the cup and continue in a circular direction until it forms a peak. To make the cute mountain tops, you stop squeezing, and gently push down into the mountain and pull up quickly. It will form the stiffened peak this way. If you're not comfortable doing this, just practice in a mini-muffin cup until you feel comfortable. And remember, if it doesn't look right, just scoop it up with a spoon and put it back in the piping bag and reuse!

Now that all of the tarts are filled, lets decorate! Using strawberries or pineapples, place them the back. Then place the other berries lower in the front so you can see all the prettiness there is. Doesn't it look delicious?!?

But we're not done yet. Just one more step and you'll have the most desired dessert at the party. All that's left is to toast the sliced almonds. To do this, just heat up a frying pan, dump in about 1/3 cup sliced almonds and continually stir until they start to turn a golden brown, between 2-4 minutes. Once the majority get the golden color, transfer to a small bowl and crush them.

Then sprinkle on top of the tarts and bask in their glory because you are DONE!

Now go make some!

Hope you enjoy them, because I LOVE them!

~ Janice

* Just an FYI: It took longer to type this tutorial up then it did to make the tarts, darn it!!