Light baskets of coconut in beautiful pinks and greens, these tartlets are a must-have on every Christmas platter that you send to that favorite relative.
Looking as pretty in pink and green as letri, the tartlets are far tastier, or sweeter if that’s what you want to call them. Only made for Christmas, these traditional East Indian coconut baskets are almost too cute to eat!
Added to the Christmas dessert tray, you’ll enjoy these affordable yet tasty desserts!
Steps to Follow for Making Coconut Filled Tartlets
Step I – Prepare the tartlet dough and Bake It
This was mom’s handwritten recipe for tartlets. I was just comparing mom’s book with aunt’s book, and their writings are so similar. 🙂
It’s quite simple really. Mix the dry dough ingredients together – that’s the flour, powdered sugar, baking powder, and salt. Then mix and add the wet dough ingredients – eggs, ghee, and vanilla essence. Form into a ball and refrigerate for a few hours. If you’re in a hurry, skip the refrigeration. We’ve skipped it quite a few times. It’s a little more difficult to roll the dough, but still works.
Roll the dough out and place into tartlet moulds. We also roll a little bit of dough fine to form U-shapes by hand. We’ll use these as basket handles. Not everyone makes these. So it’s an optional step.
If you have any leftover dough, freeze it for later use. Or make some coconut surprise cookies or coconut pies like we do.
Step II – Prepare the Coconut Filling
All you need is almonds, pistas, coconut and sugar. You canl actually skip the pistas like we do. The method is simple, make a mel of the sugar, add the coconut and cook. Then add minced almonds and keep stirring till quite dry, but still a little wet, just like pancake filling. Yes, that’s how it’s said! Haha!
After that split it into three lumps, add green and red/pink color to two, and mix well. This will be your tartlet filling. You can also grate some pistas for the topping, but we don’t do that anymore.
And here’s another quick tip: We know you’re busy and don’t have time. So just do a filling dump like we sometimes do. Simply add all the ingredients in one shot to the pot and stir till cooked. No waiting till the sugar melts first and what not.
Step III – Assemble the Tartlets
Assembling the traditional Eastya tartlets is as easy as spooning the coconut filling into the basket. Really easy peasy! It you want to take it up a notch, add the basket handle like mom does!
Tartlets (Coconut Filled Dessert Baskets)
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Ingredients
For the Tartlets Baskets
- 250 grams All Purpose Flour (Maida / Plain Flour / Refined Flour)
- 125 grams Ghee (Indian clarified butter)
- 1 Eggs
- 65 grams Powdered Sugar
- 0.25 teaspoon Vanilla Essence
- 0.25 teaspoon Salt
- 0.5 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 25 ml Water Cold
For the Coconut Filing
- 1 Coconut (Grated) Freshly Grated
- 200 grams Sugar
- 20 Almonds Minced
- 100 ml Water
- 100 ml Rose Water If using desiccated coconut
Instructions
For the Tartlets Baskets
- In a thalie, add the maida, powdered sugar, and salt and mix together together.
- Add the ghee, egg, vanilla essence and cold water and form into a dough.
- Add more cold water till the dough is fully formed.
- Store the dough in the refrigerator for a few hours. (This is an optional step, and we skip it sometimes.)
- Roll the dough out into circles and mould into tartlet shapes.
- Roll out some dough really fine to form handles on another baking tray.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.
For the Filling
- Grate one fresh coconut. If fresh coconuts are not available, use 200 grams of desiccated coconut powder.
- Mince the almonds and set aside.
- Add the powdered sugar and water to a vessel and form a syrup or mel.
- Add the coconut and mix well on a low flame. (If using desiccated coconut, add 100 ml more water or add rose water.)
- Once cooked, add the minced almonds and mix well.
- Take off the flame once quite dry.
Filling the Tartlets
- Add spoonfuls of coconut to the tartlet baskets.
- Add baked handles on top.
- Once set and dry, they're ready to distribute to loved ones.
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Nutrition (Per Serving)
Disclaimer: Nutrition Information per serving is estimated by a third party software based on the ingredients used, and is for informational purposes only. It will vary from product to product, based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients. Please consult the package labels of the ingredients you use, or chat with your dietician for specific details.
This printable recipe card is for home use only. For more recipes head over to AbbysPlate.comIf you want our traditional East Indian recipes on hand, the Abby's Plate Cookbook Series books are available online or in-store in most countries.
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Tips for Making Tartlets
- You can skip the handles. Many people don’t put them.
- You can make single-colored tartlets, two-colored tartlets, or three-colored tartlets.
- You can also change the colors used in the tartlets.
- The coconut filling can be made a day ahead.
- Leftover tartlet dough can be refrigerated for future use, or turned into cutout cookies.
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I’m an East Indian foodie and travel blogger from Bombay, India. I love food, wine, and sharing my culture’s ethnic East Indian and traditional Indian recipes. You’ll find more info about me here!
