coconut tartlets

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Description

Here are some cute, little coconut tartlets. Sometimes a little bite of something sweet is all you need and a tiny dessert, presented in the right way, looks like something special.

These naturally gluten free coconut tartlets look beautiful on a tray of holiday baking but they look just as nice on a colourful plastic tray in the middle of summer. This tartlet is a year round recipe that will hold any filling you can dream up. Lemon curd is my personal favourite.

Participants at my Thai cooking class made these tartlets with an Asian spin. We filled them with vanilla-whipped cream and topped them with slivered crystallized ginger. Other options include lime curd or mango mousse. A garnish of fresh mango or other exotic fruit would make a slightly more substantial dessert.

Baking Pans for Coconut Tartlets

A mini muffin tin with smooth sides is all you need to recreate many little treats. For everyday home cooks you only need a few baking pans with lots of ways to assemble and decorate whatever you bake.

The Kitchen Hack for Coconut Tartlets

There is a hack for just about everything from peeling garlic to opening young coconuts and cutting pomegranates. There is a hack for slicing mangos and ripening avocados. And there is a hack for these coconut tartlets.

Readers told me they had trouble getting these little tartlets out of the pan after they were cooked and in one of my cooking classes we had the same problem. Here are some tips for getting them in and out of the mini muffin tin.

  • Press the coconut mixture into a round 1-tablespoon measuring spoon.
  • Bang the mixture out of the measuring spoon into the tart tin.
  • Flip the little half-ball over so the rounded part is on the bottom.
  • Push the coconut into the sides of the tin making an indent for the filling.
  • Remove the tartlets before completely cooled.
  • Use a small plastic spatula, preferably a hard plastic one, to scrap the outside edge of each tartlet and remove it from the pan.

Let me know in the comments below if you got the cooked tartlets out of the pan with ease or if you have another hack.

Ingredients

COCONUT TARTLETS
2 large egg whites
1½ cups shredded unsweetened coconut
¼ cup sugar* (optional)
VANILLA-WHIPPED CREAM
1 cup whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean
½ oz crystallized ginger cut into slivers

Directions

1
Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray mini muffin tins or small tart tins with oil and place on a baking sheet.
2
In a large bowl stir egg whites until frothy.
3
Stir coconut and sugar into the egg whites. Mix until the mixture holds together when you squeeze it in the palm of your hand.
4
Form a heaping tablespoon of the coconut mixture into a ball and place it in the tin. Using your thumb make a dent in the middle and press the ball into the sides of the tin. The crust should be about ¼ inch thick.
5
Bake crusts until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
6
Remove from oven and let crusts cool slightly.
7
Turn out crusts onto a wire cooling rack and let cool completely. Can be made several days in advance.
8
Makes about 16 tartlets.
9
*reader Gill says try these without sugar and they come out of the pan beautifully.
10
VANILLA-WHIPPED CREAM
11
Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape seeds into cream (reserve pod for another use). Beat cream until soft peaks form.
12
Fill coconut tartlets with whipped cream shortly before serving.
13
Garnish with crystallized ginger. Serve.

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Ingredients

Directions
  • COCONUT TARTLETS
  • 2 large egg whites
  • 1½ cups shredded unsweetened coconut
  • ¼ cup sugar* (optional)
  • VANILLA-WHIPPED CREAM
  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean
  • ½ oz crystallized ginger cut into slivers
  1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray mini muffin tins or small tart tins with oil and place on a baking sheet.
  2. In a large bowl stir egg whites until frothy.
  3. Stir coconut and sugar into the egg whites. Mix until the mixture holds together when you squeeze it in the palm of your hand.
  4. Form a heaping tablespoon of the coconut mixture into a ball and place it in the tin. Using your thumb make a dent in the middle and press the ball into the sides of the tin. The crust should be about ¼ inch thick.
  5. Bake crusts until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven and let crusts cool slightly.
  7. Turn out crusts onto a wire cooling rack and let cool completely. Can be made several days in advance.
  8. Makes about 16 tartlets.
  9. *reader Gill says try these without sugar and they come out of the pan beautifully.
  10. VANILLA-WHIPPED CREAM
  11. Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape seeds into cream (reserve pod for another use). Beat cream until soft peaks form.
  12. Fill coconut tartlets with whipped cream shortly before serving.
  13. Garnish with crystallized ginger. Serve.