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1
Blend together flour, salt, butter, shortening, and 2 tablespoons sugar with your fingertips or a pastry blender in a large bowl (or pulse in a food processor, then transfer to a large bowl) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.
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2
Drizzle evenly with 1/2 cup ice water and gently stir with a fork until incorporated.
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3
Squeeze a small handful: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring until just incorporated, then test again.
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4
(Do not overwork mixture, or pastry will be tough.)
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5
Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 portions.
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6
With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat.
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7
Gather dough together with scraper and divide into 2 balls, one slightly larger than the other, then flatten each into a 5- to 6-inch disk.
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8
Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.
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9
Peel, halve, and core pears.
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10
Cut pears into 1/4-inch dice, then stir together with remaining filling ingredients in a 3-quart heavy pot.
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11
Bring to a boil, stirring, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 10 minutes.
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12
Transfer filling to a shallow dish and cool to room temperature.
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13
Roll out smaller disk of dough into a 13-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin, lifting up dough carefully and flouring surface as necessary to keep dough from sticking.
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14
Cut out as many rounds as possible (about 12) with 3 1/2-inch fluted cutter, transferring as cut to a wax-paper-lined baking sheet.
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15
Chill rounds until firm, about 10 minutes, before decorating.
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16
Gather dough scraps and chill 20 to 30 minutes, then reroll, cut, and chill additional 31/2-inch rounds (reroll scraps only once) for a total of 16.
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17
Cut out shapes from rounds with decorative cutters or a sharp paring knife, leaving a 1/2-inch border around edge, and reserve cutout pieces if desired for additional decoration.
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18
Brush tops lightly with milk.
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19
Lightly press reserved cutouts (if using) onto decorated pastry rounds and brush lightly with milk.
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20
Sprinkle remaining tablespoon sugar evenly over tops and chill while making bottoms.
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21
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375F.
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22
Roll out larger disk of dough into a 15-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) on floured surface with floured rolling pin, lifting up dough carefully and flouring surface as necessary to keep dough from sticking.
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23
Cut out as many rounds as possible (about 12) with 4-inch cutter.
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24
Gather dough scraps and chill 20 to 30 minutes, then reroll and cut additional 4-inch rounds (reroll scraps only once) for a total of 16.
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25
Fit each 4-inch round into a tartlet pan (don't trim).
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26
Fill each tartlet with 3 tablespoons cooled filling and brush edge of pastry lightly with milk.
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27
Place decorated tops over filling in each tartlet, then press each top lightly around edge to help seal edges and trim pastry if necessary.
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28
Bake tartlets on a large baking sheet until golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
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29
Transfer tartlets to a rack and cool 10 minutes.
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30
To remove tartlets from pans, cover 1 hand with a folded kitchen towel and invert tartlets 1 at a time onto towel, reinverting them onto a platter.
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31
Serve warm or at room temperature.
