Saturday, April 7, 2012

Berry Tart


This year Easter was going to be a little strange for my wife and I. None of our 3 children would be home for Easter. We will be getting together in a couple of weeks for other special family events, so we just decided to wait until then. This is a recipe I have made a few times over the years and it is always a hit. The recipe is from Perfect Light Desserts by Nick Malgieri, yes he wrote a healthy cookbook.

Berry Tart

Sweet Pastry Crust
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbs unsalted butter, cold and cut into 6 pieces
1 large egg
1 tbs cold water

Combine the dry ingredients in a food processor. Pulse to mix ingredients.

Add butter and pulse 12 times.

Add the egg and water and pulse until dough forms a ball.

Pour dough onto a floured surface.

Form the dough into a disk. Then wrap it in plastic.

Refrigerate for 3 hours to 3 days. You can use immediately but dough will be a little soft.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Before you use the dough unwrap it and gently knead it on a floured surface. Then form it into a disk again and roll it out into a 11 to 12 inch disk. Transfer to a 8 or 9 inch fluted tart pan. Press on bottom and sides and cut off any excess dough.

Poke holes in bottom of tart with a fork, about every 1/2 inch. Place tart on center rack and bake for 15 minutes, or until it just starts to turn golden brown. Do not over bake or crust becomes very hard.

Cool tart on a rack.

Pastry Cream Filling
1 cup fat-free milk, I usually use 1%
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbs all-purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs unsalted butter, softened

Combine the milk and 1/2 of the sugar in a small nonreactive saucepan. Bring to boil over low heat. Combine rest of sugar and the flour in a small mixing bowl and whisk together to mix. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time. When the milk boils whisk in 1/3 of the egg mixture. Return the rest of the mixture to a boil. Whisking constantly add the rest of the egg mixture in a slow steady stream. Keep whisking until the pastry cream thickens and comes to a boil with large bubbles bursting at the surface. Whisk for 20 seconds longer and remove from heat. Add the vanilla and the butter. Pour the filling into a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap touching the surface of the cream so a film does not form. Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the tart.

Finishing the Tart
3 1/2-pints of raspberries or a mixture of raspberries, blueberries and strawberries
2 tbs powdered sugar

Pour the cream in the tart shell and spread evenly. Arrange the berries on top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.


20 comments:

  1. Oh boy this looks great! But my heart is so heavy for your wife as I know only too well how empty she must feel when the kids can't be there, dissappointing but understand things must change, I am not good with that!. Glad to see it will be in a few weeks but man it's hard on us mom and dads! Life gets crazy as we get older and we never get use to the empty nesting.. at least I don't! hope you two have a blessed day together and the make up dinner will be the best times together ever! Happy Easter to you all!

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  2. This is beautiful, Greg! You should link this up to the #berrylove blog hop (you can go to my page to link if you want to).

    Happy Easter to you and your family!

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  3. Beautiful tart and perfect for the Easter table (whether it is just for two or a crowd)!

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  4. Beautifully done, Greg! Perfect spring dessert!

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  5. Your tart looks beautiful. Perfect dessert for the spring and so bright and cheerful too! I'm sure this tart tastes incredible if it's one of Nick Malgeri's.

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  6. BEAUTIFUL tart! (LOVELY photography!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, and CONGRATS on Making top 9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  7. Gorgeous Tart!I love the decoration with all these berries :)Looks absolutely delicious :)

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  8. Your beautiful berry tart looks delicious. Perfect for this spring and summer when the berries are so sweet.

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  9. this is stunning! and delicious, i'm sure!

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  10. This is absolutely beautiful. So fresh and pretty. This is our last Easter all under one roof. My son is moving out this summer. So weird.

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  11. Simply gorgeous! I love the flavors you have here. Hope you enjoy your holiday!

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  12. Beautiful, it looks like a flower :-D

    Thanks for joining in!

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  13. Dear Greg, What an absolutely beautiful tart!!
    Blessings, Catherine

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  14. Thanks for all of the lovely comments! It is wonderful seeing all of the new people leaving comments. Sorry I haven't really commented this week, been very busy at work and even worked over Easter weekend.

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  15. Dear Greg, I'm sorry for the mix up with my last comment. That is my daughter's blogger account and she must have forgotten to sign out after she was finished using my computer today! Oh well, anyway, I have added my strawberry shortcake to your link up! Blessings my friend, Catherine

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    1. When I saw the post I checked out the blog and it pointed back to you. I was thinking does Catherine have an alter ego? I am glad you joined the Blog Hop. This is the first time I have ever participated in anything like this and I am glad I did. I have checked out a lot of new blogs and my traffic has been up this week.

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  16. Lovely tart & amazingly presented! Congrats on TOP 9! Have a nice day! :)

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  17. So glad you were able to participate in the blog hop! I am excited to make the pastry cream - I've never made it like that before. Beautiful, fresh dessert! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  18. Merci
    aswqergh
    Probably one of the most talked about stores in Paris,Isabel Marant Pumps

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