TWD: Classic Berry Tarts

I’ve been looking for a simple, yet elegant and impressive dessert to serve or to bring to parties. Eureka! I think I’ve found it in this week’s pick: Classic Berry Tart by Cristine of Cooking with Cristine. And to think that I was almost going to skip this week’s bake, especially with all the ongoing preparations for the move!

Folks, just so you know, I’ve made a decision to take this to the next level - “this” being my passion in pastry. I’ve been accepted into a pastry school in Paris recently and I’m completely flabbergasted, extremely excited yet absolutely terrified at the same time. This is another one of the boldest move I’ve done so far (the first was quitting my job last year without having a clue of what I’d be doing next), definitely a major life transition and I’m buckled in for one heck of a ride!
Now back to the reason for this post.....

The berry tart is a simple dessert that can be assembled in a flash once you have all the ingredients ready. I like it that this is not one of those fussier eat-it-while-it-tastes-good-hot-off-the-oven type of desserts; you can actually prep the individual components of the tart ahead of time which is always a helpful when it comes to entertaining. The pâte sucrée probably took a little over half an hour to make, all in all.  The pastry cream was a little bit more involved but still relatively easy and I agree with Dorie, this is certainly one of the must-haves in our reportoires. Pierre Hérme's vanilla pastry cream recipe has been my favorite go-to; Dorie’s recipe is very similar and as in both recipes, the key to getting that smooth, luscious consistency is allowing the cream to cool to at least 140˚F before adding the butter. I added some lemon zests in my pastry cream for a little zing. I had some leftover almond butter (almonds ground to a paste) which I added to the pâte sucrée, along with a couple extra tablespoons of flour to maintain the flakiness. It turned out somewhat "crumblier" than I had liked, but still tasted great! I used my mini-mini moulds again so I could feel less guilty when popping one (ok, maybe two) into my mouth each time.

The final touch - glazed apricot preserves over the entire tart - the fruits (I used whatever I had in our fridge - strawberries and blueberries), the pastry cream and even the tart crusts. Don’t you just love how a simple glaze adds such a stunning finishing touch?!

Please head over to Cristine's for this week’s recipe.