Mixed Berry Tart
Serves 8.
Ingredients
For the pastry:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 egg yolk, beaten with 2 Tbs. heavy cream
For the vanilla pastry cream:
- 3 Tbs. granulated sugar
- 1 Tbs. all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbs. cornstarch
- 2 egg yolks
- 2/3 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 4 cups mixed berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries
- Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Directions
Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 425ºF.To make the pastry, in the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, granulated sugar and salt and pulse a few times to mix. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the egg yolk mixture and pulse until the dough holds together when squeezed. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until it comes together in a ball. Shape into a 5-inch disk, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the pastry cream: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the granulated sugar, flour, cornstarch and egg yolks on medium speed until thick and pale yellow, 2 to 3 minutes.
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and vanilla and bring to a simmer. While stirring, pour half the milk into the sugar mixture until combined. Then pour this mixture back into the pan with the remaining milk and place over medium-low heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and starts to bubble, 1 to 2 minutes. Be sure to scrape the sides and corners of the pan while whisking to prevent scorching. Pour the pastry cream into a clean bowl and cover the surface with parchment paper. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for 1 hour.
On a floured surface, roll out the dough into an 11-inch round. Transfer to a 9-inch tart dish and trim the edges to make them flush with the rim. (If the dough starts to break, just piece it together in the dish.) Line the pastry with parchment paper, fill with pie weights, rice or beans and bake for 5 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF. Remove the pie weights and parchment paper and, using a fork, poke holes in the bottom of the crust. Bake until the crust is golden, 15 to 20 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 1 hour.
To serve, spoon the pastry cream into the crust, arrange the berries on top and dust with confectioners sugar.
Related Items
Rated 5 out of
5
by
2BoysMom from
Yummy but directions could have been more specific
I just made this tart to take to a friend's house. While I bake a lot, I have never made a tart, and this gave me an excuse to use my 11 inch tart pan! I doubled the dough recipe, and tripled the custard. The amount of dough for my size pan was perfect. Also, I made the dough gluten free, using Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 flour. It is great, held it's shape and the taste is wonderful. But having not made a tart before, and using gf flour, while I thought the custard was done as specified, after chilling in the fridge for 1.5 hours, I poured it into the shell and its pretty soft, even though it was thicker when first done. Unfortunately my raspberries are sinking a bit into the custard. The flavor is great, though and it still looks really pretty. If I knew more about custards or if this is the correct consistency, then maybe it is perfect.
Date published: 2018-09-15
Rated 4 out of
5
by
LaurelDawn from
The recipe I was looking for
This tart recipe is exactly what I was looking for. Simple and delicious. A few things I learned: the crust is too sweet for me. I would cut the sugar in half. The crust also shrank much more than I expected. I used a pie pan so, after shrinking, it is not as pretty as hoped - but I am a beginning baker so there is always something to improve. Other reviews indicated that the custard soaked into the crust so I brushed egg white on the crust after the first five minutes of baking (once I removed the parchment paper). I also made 1.5 times the custard recipe (with a little less sugar) and that seems to be just right. I also added a touch of cinnamon to the custard and that turned out really nice.
Date published: 2015-12-26
Rated 4 out of
5
by
vrr80 from
tasty! Just right for spring
It is easy to make. The pastry is tasty and has a good texture. Mine over-browned on the edges but was still good.
I thought it was just about the right amount of pastry cream. Mine was pretty thick, so it really didn't soak into the pastry.
One nice thing is that all of the ingredients are things one would normally have in the kitchen. Nothing is esoteric or difficult to come by.
My husband and mother really enjoyed it.
Date published: 2015-04-27
Rated 5 out of
5
by
cmbmb from
Impressive yet simple
The pastry dough is simple to prepare, easy to roll out, and light and delicious when baked. The custard filling is smooth and creamy, although I would prefer a little more custard than the recipe makes. As long as fresh local berries are available, I'll be making this over and over all summer.
Date published: 2013-06-09
Rated 3 out of
5
by
upscalebohemian from
Definitely Double the Pastry Cream Amount
This recipe isn't well tested nor even logically laid out, but it's salvageable and worth salvaging. Why preheat the oven over an hour and a half before it's needed, for instance? And YES, DO double the pastry cream. There's not enough as is, and what there is soaks into the pie crust and all but disappears.
I made this in a Gobel tart pan and had great results. See my review for the pan on its page since my characters are limited here.
You should make the pastry cream first since it's supposed to cool for an hour, then the pastry shell, since the dough is supposed to chill for half an hour, then finish the rest, but in reality you can make the pastry cream the day before (remember to at least double the recipe) and keep it refrigerated with plastic wrap over it and touching the surface to prevent a skin from forming.
Then you can make the shell ahead too and assemble closer to serving time.
Date published: 2012-10-19