Tartlet Shells

Tartlets are just like they sound, smaller tarts.  You can fill tartlets with pretty much anything you can think of, keeping in mind that it is a very small item that can only pack so much inside of the shells. Essentially a tartlet consists of a crust, a filling, and a garnish. Below some variations are detailed, Chocolate Crémeux Tartlet and a Turtle Tartlet. There is also a brief description of many variations that you can use.

Crust: pâte sucrée (chocolate/vanilla/nut meal), pâte sablée, pâte à foncer (for more savoury fillings), linzer
Fillings: there are two loose categories for this, although some cross over slightly
   Baked: almond cream, frangipane, custard (pot du crème / crème brûlée)
   Unbaked (cooked): mousse, crémeux, curd, pastry cream, caramel filling, chiffon filling, bavarian,
                                  cooked fruit (this can be for baked applications as well)
Garnish: two different loose categories for this too. The accent just tells the story while the feature is the center of the dessert.
   Feature: Italian meringue, fresh fruit (can be accent), ganache (can be accent), geleé (can be accent)
   Accent: candied zest, citrus chips, appricot glaze, chocolate decos, chocolate curls, fine line piping,
                roasted/candied nuts, gold leaf, silver leaf, edible flowers, herbs

Chef Kelson demonstration cutting.

MOP: tartlet shells.
Time: 24 shells takes roughly 40 minutes to mold

• Cut off a small portion of the dough and reserve the rest of the dough, wrapped, in the refrigerator.
• Roll out dough as thin as possible to roughly 1/16" thick, almost transparently thin.
• You can either do the next step individually or for a few molds at a time. If doing multiple shells, note that the finish might not be as refined, but it will be faster. Cut out a strip of the dough and place it over a few molds (silicone). Cut around each mold. Press the dough down into each individual molds either with your fingers or with a tamper. You can wrap extra dough in plastic and use this to press the dough into the corners.
• Trim edges.
• If you are using a metal mold you can still do this in production method. Place several molds close together leaving a slight gap between each. Reserve one mold to use as tamper if you dont have one. Place strip of dough over molds, tamper dough into the molds. Cut around each mold releasing them. Press in corners as done with the silicone molds. Trim the edges down.
• Par bake tartlet shells fully. Bake at 375°F for roughly 15 minutes, or until it takes on golden colour.