French Berry Tart

     Today Sam put a fresh twist on a classic French tart.  It is Pate Brisee (tart dough), vanilla pastry cream, and berries glazed with honey, lime, and basil.  The recipe is below so that you can give it a shot!

Recipe:

Tart Assembly-

Pate brisee- 1 10 inch tart shell

Vanilla Pastry Cream- 1.5 pounds

Glazed Berries- 12 oz

1.  Remove tart shell from the tart pan and place it on the dish you want to serve your tart on.

2.  Spoon in the pastry cream and smooth it out until it is level all the way around the tart.

3.  Place the berries in a decorative fashion on the top of the tart.  Garnish the top of the tart and berries with your finely sliced basil. 

Pate brisee (tart dough)

makes a 10 inch tart

Ingredients:

AP Flour- 1lb

Salt- pinch

Butter- 4.5 oz (cubed)

Water- 2 oz

Eggs- 2 oz (1 egg)

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit. 

2.  Mix Flour and salt together and place on medium speed in a stand mixer.  Slowly add in your cubed butter and run the mixer on medium speed for about 4 minutes until a paste forms  If you do not have a  stand mixer you can do this process with your hand mixer, or with your hands.

3.  Combine the water and the eggs and gradually mix it into the flour/ butter mixture while your mixer is on low speed.  Mix until it begins to form into a shaggy mass.  Wrap with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

4.  Place the dough out on a floured surface and press it together.  Depending on the size of your tart pans you can now divide the dough.  I used all of the dough for a 10 inch tart.  Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes more.

5.  Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to the size of your tart pan.  Press the rolled out dough into the pan and clean up the edges and pieces that are hanging over the sides.

6.  Dock your dough by poking all around the bottom of the dough with a fork (this will prevent the dough from rising too much when it bakes).  Cover the inside of the dough with a piece of foil that will fit the inside of the tart.  Place a cake pan or pie pan inside the piece of foil (also to keep the dough from rising) and bake for 25 minutes.  

7.  Remove the cake pan and the foil from the top of the tart dough and place it back into the oven until it becomes lightly brown (approx 10 minutes)

Pastry Cream

makes 1.5 pounds which is enough to fill 1 10 inch tart

Ingredients:

Milk- 16 fl oz

Sugar- 4 oz

Butter- 1.5 oz

Salt- pinch

Cornstarch- 1.5 oz

Eggs- 6 oz (approx 3 eggs)

Vanilla extract- 1 TB

Procedure:

1.  Mix 12 oz of milk, 2 oz of sugar, the butter, and the salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently to dissolve the sugar.

2.  Meanwhile, combine the cornstarch, with the remaining sugar.  Whisk in the remaining milk.  Add the eggs, and vanilla extract.  Stir vigorously until the mixture is completely smooth.

3.  Temper the egg combination by gradually adding 1/3 of the boiling milk into it, stirring constantly.  Then, gradually whisk the egg mixture into the saucepan with the boiling milk.  From this point on it is very important to whisk constantly.  Cook until the pastry cream comes to a boil, thickening it to the point where the whisk leaves a trail in it.

4.  Pour the pastry cream into a pan and cover it with plastic wrap.  Refrigerate to cool.

Honey Basil Glazed Berries

makes enough to garnish 1 10 inch tart

Ingredients:

Honey- 1/4 cup

Lime Juice- 1TB

Lime Zest- Zest of 1 lime

Basil stems- 10 

Basil Leaves- 4

Berries- 12 oz (I used a six ounce package of raspberries and a six ounce package of blackberries)

1.  Combine everything except for the basil leaves into a small sauté pan and bring to a boil to infuse the flavor from the lime zest and basil stems. allow to cool to room temperature.

2.  Finely slice the basil leaves for a garnish.

3.  Lay out your berries on a plate and brush them with the honey glaze until well coated and shiny.