This Summer Berry Tart has a wonderful shortbread crust that is filled with creamy vanilla custard and all your favorite summer berries!

Sorry for the lack of posting guys – I’ve been super busy working on college applications and doing all that super fun stuff for school. Jeez; senior year has barely started and I already have a bad case of senioritis (definition: when you’re just SO over school, you’re a senior, no one wants to work anymore!!). Feels a little early for this, but I’ll live.

Anyways, I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for A WHILE but my aunt never seemed to be able to send me the pictures (they were on her camera), so it just never happened. Meanwhile, you should make this tart while you still have the joy that is summer berries. I love them. Give me blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries and they’re gone in minutes. How my family managed to get an entire tart covered in my favorite fruits out of me, I’m not quite sure. But I’m glad they did, because it’s delicious.

I used a shortbread tart that’s blind baked and a white chocolate, vanilla bean pastry cream. Heavenly, yes. Hard to make? Definitely not. So break out your tart pan, let’s get cookin’.

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Summer Berry Tart

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  • Author: Rachel Conners
  • Prep Time: 15
  • Cook Time: 20
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Cuisine: dessert

Ingredients

Scale

For Shortbread Tart Dough

  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

For Vanilla White Chocolate Pastry Cream

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 4 oz. good quality white chocolate, chopped
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter (cut into bits at room temperature)
  • About 23 cups for your favorite summertime berries (if using strawberries, cut off the stems and into quarters, halves, or just slice them!)

Instructions

Directions for Dough

  1. Whip butter and sugar in an electric mixer until fully combined.
  2. Add in flour and salt and mix until just combined. Be careful not to over-mix.
  3. Pat into a 9 or 10 inch tart or pie pan.
  4. Prick crust well with fork.
  5. Cover with foil or parchment paper and fill with uncooked beans or rice.
  6. Bake in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.
  7. Take off foil and bake for another 5 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.

Directions for Pastry Cream

  1. Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to make sure it doesn’t burn. If you’re using the vanilla bean, split and scrape it, putting the small flecks into the milk as well as the rest of the bean. Before you whisk it into the yolk mixture, remove the bean.
  2. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk.
  3. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, contstantly and thoroughly bring the mixture to a boil. Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.
  4. If you didn’t use the vanilla bean, whisk in the vanilla extract now. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter and chopped white chocolate, stirring until they are fully incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky.
  5. Scrape the cream into a bowl. Press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate until cold or, if you want to cool it quickly put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water and stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.
  6. The pastry cream can be kept, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Assembling Your Tart

  1. After you have let your tart crust and your pastry cream cool, scrape the pastry cream into the tart pan. Smooth top evenly. Rinse berries, and arrange as you would like on top of the tart. Then, gently remove the tart from the pan as carefully as you can to resist breaking the tart. It can be refrigerated for a few hours before serving if needed.

Notes

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s book “Baking: From My Home to Yours”

 

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