Grape Tartlets With Almond Crust

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

"Take these to a picnic in the pans that they were baked in to prevent
crushing. Assemble them not more than 6 hours before serving time.  For
a single 10 inch tarts, bake the crust for 15 minutes with foil  in and
a further 20 to 30 minutes empty."  Finely grind almonds in a food
processor with on/off motion, or crush  with a rolling pin until as
finely ground as possible. Add flour,  salt and brown sugar to
processor and blend, or combine ground  almonds, flour, salt and brown
sugar in a bowl and stir to blend. Add  butter and process or work with
the fingertips until mixture  reassembles coarse crumbs. In a small
bowl beat egg lightly. Stir in  the vanilla and lemon zest. With a
processor on, add egg mixture to  dough through feed tube and process
until dough forms. Pat dough into  ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill
in refrigerator for at least 30  minutes. Remove dough from
refrigerator and divide into 8 equal  parts. Press each piece into a
lightly buttered 3 to 3 1/2 inch  tartlet pan, preferably with
removable rim, patting into an even  layer. (The dough will soften as
you work with it.) Chill tartlet  shells in freezer for at least 30
minutes before baking. Preheat oven  to 400F. remove tartlet shells
from freezer, line each with a square  of foil, and fill with pie
weights or dried beans to prevent dough  from puffing during baking.
bake on baking sheet in center of oven  for 10 minutes. remove foil
with weights, reduce oven temperature to  350F, and continue baking for
15 to 20 minutes, or until pastry is a  rich, golden brown. Let tartlet
shells cool in pans and place on wire  racks to cool completely. To
prevent glaze, combine preserves and  sherry in a small saucepan and
warm over medium heat, stirring, until  preserves are melted. strain
through a sieve. To assemble tarts,  brush tarts on the bottom of each
tartlet shell. arrange grapes, cut  sides down, in a decorative
pattern, alternating colors, in the  bottom of each pastry shell. Brush
remaining glaze, reheating it if  necessary, over grapes and edges of
tartlets. sprinkle toasted  almonds over tartlets before glaze sets.
Serve at room temperature.  From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection
at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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