Recipe: Blueberry Tart

I seldom bake in the summer. I have no desire to turn my house into a furnace (most houses in Seattle don’t have A/C). But when I do, it is usually with seasonal fruits.

I baked this tart two days ago.

On tasting, my friend Katia said “It is heavenly, you have to write about it”.

So here it is.

The recipe I adopted came from star Parisian food blogger Clotilde Dusoulier of Chocolate & Zucchini.com. I like that it uses a shortbread like base and has the perfect balance of tartness from the berries and sweetness of the tart shell.

You can use fresh blueberries for this tart. Personally I like huckleberries when they are in season, or frozen wild blueberries for their small even size, available at local Whole Foods Market.

When it comes to butter, the best the quality the tastier the tart will be. These Président Professionnel butters are my favorite in baking. Whenever I see them in PFI, I stock up on them.

Ingredients:

For the tart shell:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 4.5 tablespoons sugar
• 6 tablespoons butter, plus little extra for greasing the pan
• a dash of milk

• 1 1/2 cups blueberries/hucklberries/frozen wild blueberries
• 1 tablespoon crème fraîche
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 large egg

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F, and grease a shallow 8.5-inch tart pan with butter.
2. In a food processor, cream the sugar and butter until fluffy. Add in the flour and process until the dough forms coarse crumbs. Add in a dash of milk, and mix again. When it is ready, it will still be a loose, crumb-like mixture, not a ball of dough.
3. Pour the mixture into your tart pan, and press down evenly to flatten and cover the surface of the pan, forming a little rim all around. Put in the oven to bake for 15 minutes.
4. Take the tart shell out and lower the temperature to 315 °F. Pour in the berries, spread evenly and return to the oven for another 15 minutes.
5. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, egg and crème fraîche.
6. Take the tart out of the oven, pour the mixture evenly onto the berries and return to the oven for another 20 minutes, until set.
7. Leave the tart to cool completely on a rack before serving.

It tastes EVEN better the day after. Happy cooking!