Blueberry Tart
My tart pan is a long rectangle that I fell for over at Tartlette. She's figured out how to shoot it so the whole thing fits in the camera frame. I have not, so please forgive the extreme close-ups. Plus, I wanted you to see the tiny flecks of vanilla in the whipped cream. Can you spot them?
Fruit desserts are my favorite and I like them really packed with whatever fruit they're showcasing. Tarts are fun because they're like boxes you can fill up with anything your heart desires, in this case tiny wild blueberries I've had in my freezer for a month. The challenge is to see how many you can fit in without spilling over. I think I could've squeezed in another half cup so I've accounted for that in the recipe. Fruit always shrinks during baking, unlike dough which gets bigger, so you have those two elements slugging it out while you wait for the kitchen to smell sweet.
The vanilla whipped cream was a flourish that is completely unnecessary but rather delicious. Requires some planning ahead because you need to steep it, then cool down before whipping. Regular whipped cream would be just fine too, or nothing at all.
Blueberry Tart
Adapted from Saveur, August 2011
Makes one 13 3/4" x 4 1/2" x 1" tart
1 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
pinch salt and cinnamon
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1. Put oatmeal, almonds, flour, salt and cinnamon in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until combined. Add butter and pulse until the size of baby peas. Dump onto counter and gather into a rectangle (or whatever shape your tart pan is—you don't have to roll it out this is more like a crumb crust than a pie crust). Press firmly into bottom and sides of tart pan, trimming the excess off the top. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 400ยบ. Bake tart crust for 15 minutes until slightly golden. Remove from oven and, using a spoon, press down puffs in crust. Spoon blueberry mixture in and return to oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely. Brush with warmed up blueberry jam (makes it look prettier) and top with whipped cream, if desired.
Blueberries
2 1/2 cups wild blueberries (fresh or frozen—if frozen don't thaw)
Zest from lemon
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup blueberry or other jam, optional for glaze
1. Toss blueberries in a bowl with lemon zest, cornstarch and sugar.
Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1. Put cream in a heavy saucepan. Split and scrape vanilla and add to cream along with brown sugar. Stir and heat until bubbles appear around the edges then cover. Stir, then turn off heat and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain into a jar and refrigerate until cold. Whip until stiff peaks form and serve.
Comments