Mini Berry Tarts

For crust, beat butter and sugar together until smooth. Add egg yolks and whole egg one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Stir flour and salt and blend just until dough comes together. Shape into a disc, wrap and chill for at least 2 hours before rolling.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

On a lightly floured surface, knead dough for two or three turns just to soften (this will help dough roll without cracking). Roll dough to ¼-inch thick and cut out rounds to fit
24 mini tart shells. Line tarts shells, dock with a fork and chill for 20 minutes. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until edges of shells are golden brown. Allow to cool.

For pastry cream, heat milk with scraped seeds and pod of vanilla bean. In bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch together. Slowly pour hot milk into egg mixture while whisking, then return mixture to pot.

Over medium heat, whisk milk constantly until thickened and glossy, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and strain. Stir in butter, almond extract and almond liqueur. Cover top of pastry cream directly with plastic wrap and chill completely.

To assemble, whip cream to stiff peaks and fold into chilled pastry cream. Spoon or pipe a little filling into each cooled tart shells and top with a mix of berries. Arrange a few slices of toasted almonds on each tart and dust with icing sugar. (Tarts can be assembled up to 4 hours in advance of serving.)