This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie was chosen by Cristine of Cooking with Cristine: quick classic berry tart. It’s a well known fact that I procrastinate and often make the TWD recipe on Monday. This week, instead of actively deciding to stress myself out by waiting until the last minute to bake I actually forgot I needed to make the tart! It occurred to me on Sunday night luckily but then Monday wound up being much busier than expected so I was racing against the clock to get this one done before the sun set. The fact that it had “quick” in the title gave me hope it would be possible.
The tart consists of three main components – the shell, pastry cream and fruit. The shell is made from Dorie’s sweet tart dough, which I’ve really grown to love. I’m not the type of person who has a lot of “go-to recipes” but Dorie’s sweet tart dough is on the short list. I used to dread making tarts because the dough would shrink in the oven and look really hideous but I haven’t found that to be a problem with Dorie’s recipe. I know I overhandle the dough (I can’t figure out how to press it into the tart pan without overhandling it!), but it always tastes wonderful and has the perfect texture, so I don’t stress it. The tart shell does need to be frozen before it is baked, but since I was short on time I froze it just briefly (definitely less than the 30 minutes Dorie recommends) and it still turned out well. As usual, I scaled the recipe back and made minis – I only baked one 4″ shell but I’ve got a second in the freezer waiting for me. I found that 15 minutes of covered baking time and 5 minutes uncovered yielded a nicely browned shell.
Pastry cream isn’t something I make very often both because it scares me and because I’m not really a fan. For me it falls into the pudding category and things in the pudding category generally only get made around here when they’re required for a baking group. I made 1/3 of the pastry cream recipe and perhaps for that reason, it didn’t behave as expected. Dorie says to bring it to a boil and then continue to boil for a minute or two before taking it off the heat. Mine never came to a boil but it thickened like crazy (maybe too much, I’m not entirely sure?) so I just took it off the heat anyway. After chilling it, I spooned some into my tart shell and then topped the cream with my fruits of choice – strawberries and blueberries. I took a ton of pictures of the tart before realizing I’d forgotten the glaze, which is just a combination of jam (I used raspberry) and water. The tart does look beautiful with the glaze – it gives it a nice sheen – so I was glad I threw it on at the last minute.
Despite my lack of enthusiasm for pastry cream, I really did enjoy this tart! It’s a gorgeous dessert for a fairly small amount of work. I probably wouldn’t go so far as to call it “quick” though. I’m psyched we made this one before berry season is in full swing because now I know exactly what to do with all of the beautiful, fresh berries this summer! I can’t help but think how fabulous (and dangerous) this tart would be if I filled it with whipped cream instead of pastry cream so there’s a good chance I’ll go in that direction next time! Thanks to Cristine for hosting this week! You can find the recipe on her blog or on page 377 of Baking: From My Home to Yours.
Gorgeous, T – simply beautiful!! 🙂
It’s only quick when talking about assembling the tart, but it sure was lovely! I baked half of my shells on Friday, the other half on Sunday, made the pastry cream on Saturday and assembled the tartlets on Monday 🙂
wow beautiful pictures! I wish I had the materials to make a tart :(.
These colours are in-cre-dible good looking!
Yum your tart looks so good even with out the cream! Your fruit is perfectly placed. I just piled my fruit on top! Im glad you enjoyed the recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! your tart looks so delicious 🙂
I agree with your opinion about the quickness of this dessert. Love your pics.
Your tart looks lovely, Tracey. I like the way you arranged the fruit. If you’re looking for a different filling, you might also like the one from this tart–it’s really tasty: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Raspberry-Sour-Cream-Tart-105330
Your tarts look delicious! I love your starburst of strawberries. I’d go for whipped cream too if I wasn’t on a diet.
Tart looks fantastic. Arranged beautifully. You. Rock!!!
I forgot the glaze until the last minute also. It did add just an extra kick of sweetness with the tart berries.
Cannot wait for more fresh berries to make again.
Looks beautiful Tracey- I love how you arranged the fruit on top.
Your tart looks so professional, all arranged so neatly and beautifully. I wondered how you were going to find the pastry cream as I know you are not a big fan of pudding/custard type things. Happy to hear you liked it, also happy to hear about that whipped cream version, we could get into that as well. Thanks for the tip on the browning of the crust.
So super pretty! Love the strawberries that way. Great job!
Wow Tracey, gorgeous! Your fruit arrangement is beautiful. I could never do that (well, unless I copy yours, which I might do next time!) I don’t usually care for pudding-type desserts, but I love Dorie’s pastry cream. It really does seem to thicken quickly – maybe it’s the cornstarch? And yes, pressing dough evenly into the bottom of a tart pan without overhandling it presents a bit of a conundrum, doesn’t it? The crust seems to end up great anyway, and yours looks perfect!
YUM!!!!
Carmen
I’m with Mary Ann…your fruit arrangement looks so professional! I wouldn’t call this one quick either but the tart shell in the freezer makes it much more so.
I’m so glad it won you over! Thanks for baking with me!
Soooo pretty!
I used whole berries on mine but I much prefer your use of sliced strawberries. Beautiful.
It looks picture perfect Tracey 🙂
Good job; you seem to do your best work under pressure, Tracey! The second picture is my favorite, but the tart looks amazing in all of them. Fruit + crust + any kind of cream = summer’s perfect dessert. And btw, I always have had that problem with pastry cream so this time I cut back on the cornstarch and watched the size of my yolks and the pastry cream was much silkier.
The presentation is perfect. It looks like it came right out of a French patisserie. Gorgeous!
I love your beautiful and artistic design on your tart!
That’s a beautiful tart, Tracey! I realllly wish I had one of these!
Beautiful presentation! Glad you liked the tart.
GREAT looking lil tart there. Love the perfect placement of your berries.
I used instant fat free pudding for mine. Just couldn’t bring myself to eat too much pastry cream! But ooh, like the whipped cream idea or a flavored mousse or something. (Those are all much lower in fat, right? 😉
What great presentation! Love the berries!
Look so beautiful !
Ciao Tracey ! Lovely tartlet ! I try to make things in the last second too !!
I love how you arranged the fruit -it’s almost too pretty to eat.
I also love this tart dough recipe, but I have the same challenge as you. I’m sensing that I’m overworking the dough, but luckily it’s a forgiving recipe, as I get good results each time.
Your tart looks perfect! Gorgeous photos.
that’s beautiful 🙂
Red & Blue – these are exquisite! The photographs really capture the freshness of the fruit! I used (sheepishly admitting) frozen blackberries from last summer), but the tart was great. Isn’t that funny about Dorie’s tarts shells? Hated making them, but hers never shrink! Beautiful tartlettes!
it looks beautiful! you made such a nice pattern with the berries!
I looooove fruity tarts!