Feeling inspired by the Great British Baking Show and my determination not to have the infamous 'soggy bottom' - I set out to bake a fruit tart.
Naturally I didn't take the easy route and made the short crust and the custard from scratch. Secretly hoping to get a handshake from an imaginary Paul Hollywood... but because I don't live in a fantasy, I did get a kiss from my fiancé, so I guess that meant it was tasty!
Hope you enjoy - and remember, blind bake first (I'll explain below), and pray you don't get a soggy bottom.
Bon appétit and happy baking!
Author: Serena Moroukian
Prep Time: 20 min. Cook Time: 20 min. Total Time: 40 min
Yield: serves 6-8
Ingredients
Tart dough:
1/2 cup cold butter (1 stick) sliced into small pieces
1 1/3 cups Flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 cup ice cold water
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
Vanilla Custard (without cornstarch)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoons flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups whole milk
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
Fruit Toppings
Mangoes
Raspberries
Blueberries
Strawberries
Kiwi
Equipment/Tools
-Tart pan (preferably with a removable bottom)
Instructions:
To make the pie crust:
Preheat oven to 400F
Stir together flour and salt and add to a food processor. Add sliced butter to food processor, a few pieces at a time. Pulse until coarse meal or small peas form.
Slowly add ice cold water, 1-2 tablespoons at a time to butter-flour mixture, pulsing continuously. Add vinegar and pulse until it starts to form together. Make sure the dough is crumbly and just starts to form a ball - you don't want it too sticky. Remove the dough from the food processor and form it into a ball, making sure to incorporate all the scarps. Lay down plastic wrap on your work space and place the dough ball on top. Pat the ball into a disk, tightly wrap in the plastic wrap and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. 2 hours is preferred.
Unwrap the dough, turn the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and roll it out to 1/4 inch thickness, using a rolling pin. If it starts to crack when you roll, this is because the butter/dough is too cold. Leave it out for two minutes and then continue rolling.
Fold the dough in half and gently lift and position it over the tart pan. Unfold. Use a scrap of dough to press the dough against the sides and bottom of the pan. This way you don't rip the tough with your nails.
Line the crust with foil or parchment paper. Fill it with pie weights, rice, or beans and press against the sides of the crust. You can double line the crust with parchment paper to ensure that the rice doesn't get stuck in the dough.
Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Remove parchment paper and pie weights and return to oven and cook for an additional 6-8 minutes (for a total of 16-20 minutes cooking time). See Tip "Blind Bake" and "For the Perfect Crust" for more info
Transfer to a cooling rack while you wait for the custard to thicken.
To make the custard: (Steps 1 and 2 will be conducted simultaneously)
In a heavy-bottomed pot, heat sugar, flour, salt, and milk over medium heat. Bring to a slow rolling boil and let thicken. Continue to cook and stir until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.
Test: swipe your finger across the back of the spoon - if the custard remains separated it's done. If the custard comes together again, it's not ready- keep boiling.
While the milk mixture is cooking, place egg yolks in small bowl. Temper egg yolks (see tip "For the Custard" ) before adding the eggs to the milk.
Add the egg yolks to the milk mixture, slowly stirring and bring it back to a boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla.
Tightly cover with plastic wrap and let chill in refrigerator and cool completely to thicken about -- about 2 hours. Once thickened, fill the baked tart shell with vanilla bean pastry cream. Top with thinly sliced fruit.
To make a fruit glaze, heat jelly in a microwave-safe bowl for 20-30 seconds, or until melted. Brush over fresh fruit to make it shine.
TIPS:
For the Dough:
Don't overwork the dough. The key is to work quickly to keep the dough as cold as possible. Keep the tart pan nearby so you can check the size. If the dough warms up too much, bring it to the fridge for 15-20 minutes. This will help the dough keep it's shape when baking in the oven. When you lay the dough over the tart pan, keep a bit of excess dough hanging over the edge - you will trip it up after the blind bake.
For the Blind Bake:
A blind bake is when you bake pastry for a short amount of time in order to encourage the shape. During this first round of baking, you will add your pie weights, rice, or beans, to keep the pastry from puffing up.
For the Perfect Crust:
When the time is up, remove the tart, take a knife and place it on the rim of the tart pan at a 45 degree angle. Work the knife along the edge of the tart pan, slicing off the excess dough, until you have a neat even crust that just meets the top of the tart pan. The tart crust will shrink a bit more during the final bake, so don't worry if you didn't trim it exactly to the edge.
For the Custard:
Tempering the egg yolks is a crucial step that can make or break (literally) your custard. You will need to work simultaneously on two steps during this process - first on the milk mixture and then on the egg yolks. While the milk is warming up, slowly add spoonfuls of the warm milk to the egg yolks in a separate bowl. Whisk the eggs while you add the milk to evenly distribute the hot milk. After about 5-6 spoonfuls, the eggs should be warm enough to add to the boiling milk without "breaking" or turning into scrambled eggs.
I'd love to see how the recipe came out if you tried it. Tag #whatsyourcheatday on your post and I'll be sure to give you a shoutout!
xoxo
Serena
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