Fresh Berry Tart

Want to know what I love even more than pies and cakes? A classic mixed berry tart. If I had to pick between the 3, I would pick a tart 99% of the time. I don't ever want to get creative with this recipe because I think this classic tart with vanilla pastry cream is the only way to go.

My friends hosted a crab feed this weekend, so I offered to bring a dessert. I thought something with fresh fruit would be nice after eating a million pounds of seafood, which is why I decided to make this tart in the first place. I'm going to disclose this now before you decide to jump into making this. Tarts are super time consuming, but not difficult to make. You have to wait for the crust to chill twice and the pastry cream to chill completely, so it takes about 4-5 hours from start to finish. If you're going to make this, prepare the day before or start in the morning. Good think i'm funemployed, so I have all the time in the world. 

I was having one of those off days in the kitchen, so I wasn't feeling very optimistic about the outcome of my tart. I dropped my whole bag of flour on the floor, so I had to go to the grocery store and buy more flour. After I made the tart dough, I was prepping to make the pastry cream and realized I was completely out of corn starch, so I had to go all the way back to the store. Then as I was cracking the eggs for the pasty cream, I dropped two eggs on the kitchen floor. In the end, it was all worth it because everything the tart end up beautiful and delicious!

I used blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries for my tart, but feel free to use whatever fruit is in season. It's also very important that you freeze the dough before you bake it. This prevents it from shrinking up on you!

INGREDIENTS

TART SHELL

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 9 tablespoon butter, very cold or frozen 
• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk

PASTRY CREAM

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 vanilla bean, cut down the middle, seeded
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 4 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter

TOPPING

• 1 pint rasberries
• 1 pint blueberries
• 1 pint blackberries
• 4 tbsp apricot jelly or orange marmalade 
• 2 tbsp water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. 
2. Cut the cold butter into small cubes and add it into the food processor. Pulse until the butter is in pea sized pieces.
3. Add in the egg and egg yolk and pulse until the dough forms into clumps. This will happen after a couple 10 second pulses. Try not to over pulse. 
4. Dump the dough out onto your work surface and knead the dough just until all the dry ingredients are incorporated into the rest of the dough. Shape the dough into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours before rolling.
5. While the dough is chilling, prepare the pastry cream.
6. Have a large bowl for cooling the pastry cream with a fine-mesh sieve resting in the rim.
7. In a mixing bowl, whisk together cornstarch and sugar. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth. Set aside.
8. Pour the milk into a saucepan and split the vanilla bean half lengthwise. using the tip of a knife, scrape the seeds from the pod halves into the milk. Add the salt and place over medium heat. Bring to just under a boil, stirring occasionally. Make sure the milk solids are not sticking tot he bottom of the pan.
9. When the milk is ready, ladle 1/3 of the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk immediately. This will temper the eggs, so they don't scramble. Pour the egg-milk mixture back into the hot milk and continue whisking over medium heat until the custard thickens. this will take about 2 minutes. You want to see a few bubbles, but make sure it doesn't come to a rolling boil or your pastry cream will curdle. 
10. Remove from heat and immediately pour through the sieve that you had ready. Let it cool for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to release the steam.
11. Cut the butter into 1 tablespoon pieces and whisk the butter into the pastry cream 1 tablespoon at a time. Make sure the butter is incorporated before each addition.
12. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap directly onto the cream. This prevents a skin from forming on the surface of your pastry cream. Refrigerate until it has cooled completely.
13. Once your tart shell has cooled, butter your 9 inch tart pan and set aside. Roll out the dough on parchment paper until its about 12 inches in diameter. Flip the dough onto your tart pan and carefully peel off the parchment paper. Seal any cracks in the dough and gently press down on the dough until it forms in your pan. Trip the extra dough around the edges with a sharp knife and pierce crust all over with a fork.
14. Freeze the crust for one hour before baking.
15. Before you remove the crust from the freezer, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Once your oven is preheated, remove your crust and place a piece of foil over it. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil from your pie crust and bake for another 10 minutes. You want it to be firm and golden brown. 
16. Let your cool to room temperature.
17. Once your pastry cream has chilled, take it out of the fridge and give it a quick whisk before pouring it into your tart shell. Smooth the top with a spatula and arrange the berries on top of the pastry cream in whatever design you wish.
18. In a microwave safe bowl, mix the jelly with 2 tablespoon water. Heat up for 15-20 seconds and brush over your fruit for a glossy sheen. Your tart will keep in the fridge up to 2 days before the tart shell starts getting soggy from the pastry cream.