Spring Berry Tart

Another holiday weekend has come and gone, but we had a great time.  My parents were able to come to town, we explored the city, rode out a horrible tornado, planted flowers and herbs (parsley, rosemary and cilantro, yay!) between storms, and most of all, ate...a lot.  

 

 Over the next few days I will be sharing our Easter dinner and dessert, plus a restaurant review from our fabulous dinner at Five Bistro.  My favorite thing to do is visit with my family while I work in the kitchen.  There's nothing like it!  I spent a lot of time on Easter Sunday prepping in the kitchen and while our schedule planned for dinner at 6:30, I think it was closer to 8:00 by the time we ate.  Luckily, everyone forgave me after they took the first bite of their meal.  Although we saved dessert for last, I'm starting this series with the star of the show, Spring Berry Tart!

This tart starts with a sweet shortbread crust that melts in your mouth.  It is filled with smooth vanilla pastry cream and topped with a crown of fresh berries.  What's not to like?  Once again, this recipe comes from my current favorite cookbook from Dorie Greenspan, Baking: From My Home to Yours.  It is seriously one of my all-time favorite desserts, try it today!

 

Spring Berry Tart

from Baking: From My Home to Yours


About 1 1/2 cups Pastry Cream, cooled or chilled (Recipe Below)
1 9" tart shell made with Sweet Tart Dough (Recipes Below)
Fresh raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, or strawberries, or an assortment of berries
1/3 cup red currant jelly mixed with 1 tsp of water, for glazing (I used strawberry and it tasted great)

Smooth the pastry cream by giving it a couple of strong turns with a whisk. Spoon enough pastry cream into the tart crust to come almost to the rim, then even the surface with a rubber spatula. Carefully lay the berries on the cream, arranging them in any pattern that you like.  I used blueberries, raspberries and sliced strawberries.

Bring the jelly and the water to a boil in a microwave oven or on the stovetop. Working with a pastry brush or a pastry feather, dab each berry with a spot of jelly. Or, if you like, you can glaze the entire surface of the tart, including the bit of pastry cream that peeks through the berries.

 

Sweet Tart Dough

 
Makes 1 9" Crust

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick plus 1 TBSP (9 TBSP) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk

Put the flour, confectioners sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in - you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses - about 10 seconds each- until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change- heads up. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

 Don't worry if the dough seems crumbly.  Once it is pressed into the pan it will be fine.

Butter a 9" fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. (If you don't have a tart pan a pie pan would probably work too)  Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan.  Don't be too heavy-handed - press the crust in so that the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking.

Preheat the oven to 375. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. (Since you froze the crust, you can bake it without weights.) Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon.

Bake for another 8 minutes or so, or until it is firm and golden brown. Transfer the tart pan to a rack and cool the crust to room temperature before filling.   

Pastry Cream

Makes about 2 cups
Storing: The pastry cream can be kept tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 TBSP unsalted butter, cut into bits at room temperature

Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.

Meanwhile, in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, whisk the yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk- this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won't curdle. (It helps if you have an extra set of hands for this part since you need to whisk and pour at the same time)  Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (making sure to get into the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.

Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are fully incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky. Scrape the cream into a bowl. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the pastry cream until cold, or, if you want to cool it quickly - as I always do- put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water, and stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.
  

 

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend.  What was the best thing you ate over the holiday?

On the Lighter Side

After moving only a week ago, Greg and I have already been spoiled with several days of beautiful spring weather here in St. Louis. We live across the street from a park and have been taking advantage of it on a daily basis. We've been walking, running (ok rogging, my version of the run-jog-try-not-to-die-because-you-haven't-worked-out-in-a-month, you know what I'm talking about), or biking almost every day and it actually has me thinking about healthy eating. Between wrapping up our old jobs, traveling to England and moving 400 miles away we've pretty much been living on fast food for about a month now. I know this rarely happens (those who know me know that I could *almost* live off of fast food and diet coke) but I actually started craving fruits and vegetables and good ol' home cooked food.

Fast forward to my first trip to the grocery store since moving into our new house. Although the layout of the store was new, I felt oddly at home amongst all the familiar produce options. The tall, slender asparagus bundles, crates of bright orange clementines and bunches of leafy romaine bursting from the shelves gave me a sense of calm I hadn't felt in weeks. The inspiration for a delicious salad came in the form of some of the most juicy, luscious looking strawberries I have laid eyes on since the peak of last year's strawberry season.

With my cart full and my heart happy, I headed home to make dinner. That container of strawberries never made it into the salad, but instead went straight to our tummies. So, another trip to the grocery store and another pound of strawberries later, it was time for action. I've been using balsamic dressing on my salads for ages but recently I've been reading about people using a balsamic reduction and wondered what the difference was between the two. A quick google search later and my research was complete. A balsamic reduction is simply a boiled down version of balsamic vinegar mixed with a touch of sugar. For me, simplicity is key on these precious warm spring days so this salad has only a few ingredients but boy do they pack a punch!


Summer Spinach Salad with Balsamic Reduction

Serves 2

- 2 large handfuls of spinach
- 4-6 large strawberries, sliced
- handful of blueberries
- 1/4 c. blue cheese crumbles
- 1/3 c. balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tsp. sugar

To make the balsamic reduction put about 1/3 c. balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Add about a teaspoon of sugar to the mix and reduce to medium heat. (I give these measurements as rough estimates, but I basically put in a few good glugs of balsamic and a few pinches of sugar.) Stir the mixture frequently and keep an eye on it because it can go from sweet and syrupy to thick and burned very quickly. I would suggest taking it off about 3-5 minutes before you think it's done because it seemed to thicken up more as it cooled.
While your balsamic reduction cools, divide the spinach onto chilled plates and top with strawberries, blueberries and blue cheese crumbles. Drizzle with the balsamic reduction (don't go overboard here, a little bit goes a long way). Enjoy!


Branching out: After tasting this recipe, we both thought it was delicious as is. However, it is a great recipe for add-ins or substitutions such as toasted walnuts, dried cranberries or thinly sliced pears.