Homade Berry Tart

If you ask me what is my favorite dessert I may give you different answer depends on what I like at that moment. It maybe ice cream, tiramisu, pineapple cookies. If you ask me now, this would be my answer: Berry Tart! I always love the vanilla pastry cream but thought the ones sold at the bakery are too sweet to my taste. The perk about baking my own dessert: I can reduce the sugar to my liking.

I tried to make this tart in the past but wasn't happy with the result. I didn't like the store bought pastry crust so I made it from scratch. You can buy a frozen crust from the store but it doesn't taste as good in my humble opinion. It's worth it to invest in a good pastry cutter and buy the crust ingredients instead.

First thing first: make the crust. I used the same crust recipe as the rustic apple pie. If you don't have pastry cutter you can use food processor too, just give it a few pulse.

Roll out the dough. Place them on a pie pan. Cover with parchment paper then add the weight on top (I used green beans) and bake them in the 375 degree Fahrenheit oven for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

While the crust is in the oven, work on the vanilla pastry cream:
Place the egg yolks in a bowl. Add the vanilla extract and whisk them until combined.

 

Heat the pan, place the sugar, cornstarch, and milk  inside then mix together with a whisk.

Pour some of the mixture to the eggs in the bowl. Whisk them together until combined then pour the egg mixture back to the saucepan. 

Turn the heat to medium and whisk the mixture constantly until boil and thick. Remove the custard from heat. Let it cools off before moving them into the baked crust. Refrigerate over night then add your favorite berries on top. Enjoy!

Berry Tart

Printable Recipe
Ingredients:

The Crust:

1.5 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

½ teaspoon salt

8 Tablespoons cold butter

1 egg

2 Tablespoons cold water

1 teaspoon white vinegar

The Filling / Vanilla Pastry Cream:

4 egg yolks

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

75 grams sugar

30 grams cornstarch

500 grams whole milk

1 pint of any berries you like: strawberry, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or combination will do. 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Crust:

Combine the flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add in the butter. Using a pastry cutter, gradually work the butter and shortening into the flour until the mixture resembles tiny pebbles – about 3 minutes.

Lightly beat the egg with a fork, and then add it to the mixture then add in the cold water and vinegar. 

Stir the mixture together with spatula until it's just combined. Then refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

When it's time to roll out the pie dough. Sprinkle the surface and rolling pin with flour.

Roll it out into a large circle. Sprinkle more flour as needed. Continue rolling until the dough is about 1 centimeter larger than the pie pan. Brush some butter on the pie pan. 

Gently place the dough onto the pie pan. Make a cut of parchment paper as large as the pie bottom. Then place beans on top of the parchment paper as weight. 

Bake in the 375 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

The Filling:

Place the egg yolks in a bowl. Add the vanilla extract and whisk them until combined. Set aside.

Place the sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan and mix together with a whisk.

Turn the heat to medium then pour the milk slowly into the pan. Keep whisking until the mixture thicken and begin to bubble.

Remove the pan from the heat and pour some of the mixture (about 1/3) to the eggs in the bowl. Whisk them together until combined then pour the egg mixture back to the saucepan.

Turn the heat to medium and whisk the mixture constantly until boil and thick. Remove from heat.

Place the hot mixture into a bowl and let it cools off before pouring it onto the baked crust. Chill the tart in the fridge overnight. Add berries on top.