This recipe evolved from my mom’s pineapple meringue pie [I’ll blog about that eventually]. That was the only dessert my mom ever made. Pineapple is good. I just grew very old of pineapple meringue pie! On the other hand, I LOVE fresh berries!! It was very natural for me to take the best aspects of my mom’s pie and create a fresh fruit tart. One of my favorite things about this recipe is the fresh berries paired with the vanilla bean cream-cheese filling. It’s rich like cheesecake! But… the shallow depth of a tart mold, allows you to totally get away the creamy rich filling without overwhelming the fabulous fresh fruit. I simply LOVE IT!!
Key techniques to keep in mind when making this recipe:
- Use fresh berries that have been selected with CARE [berries should not be moist, overly soft or show any sign of mold]
- Don’t soak berries. Don’t wash berries until RIGHT before you are ready to eat them
- Do NOT leave your custard unattended on the stove. Whisk constantly
Enjoy!
berry tart
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Author: yoxoxo
Recipe type: dessert
Serves: 8
Ingredients
- Crust
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp water
- 1 egg, beaten
- Cream Cheese Pastry Cream
- 1¼ cups whole milk
- 6 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
- ½ vanilla bean, split and scraped
- 5 large egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened and cut into cubes
- ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Mixed Berry Topping
- 1¾ cup Blackberries
- 1¾cup Raspberries
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- Powdered Sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the dough hook attachment, stir on medium speed, slowly adding the dry ingredients. Add water and continue to stir until dough forms.
- Gather the dough and place into a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom. With your fingers, press the dough into the tart pan, making sure to push the crust into the indentations in the sides.Cover the tart with parchment paper and baking beans and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the baking beans and parchment from the tart shell and brush with the egg wash. Bake the tart shell for an additional 10 minutes. Let cool.
- Pastry Cream: combine 1 cup milk, 3 tablespoons sugar and vanilla bean, if using, in a medium saucepan. Bring just to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat. In a medium bowl, whisk yolks, cornstarch and remaining 3 tablespoons sugar together. Add remaining ¼ cup cold milk and whisk until smooth. Add ¼ cup hot milk mixture to egg mixture while whisking continually. Add another ¼ cup, then add egg and milk mixture back to remaining hot milk in saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook 1 to 2 minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat, add cream cheese and ½ teaspoon vanilla (1 teaspoon total if not using vanilla bean) and whisk until smooth. Strain into a bowl and cover the surface directly with plastic to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate.
- Berry Topping: gently toss together berries. Remove ½ cup of the berries and set aside remaining berries. Place sugar and ½ cup berries in a small nonreactive saucepan and cook over low heat. Add 1 teaspoon water to cornstarch and stir until smooth. Add cornstarch mixture to berries and sugar stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil and thickens slightly. Remove from heat and cool completely. Pour cooked mixture into remaining whole berries and gently combine.
- Assembly
- Whisk pastry cream until smooth and spoon into tart shells. Smooth surface and top with berries. Dust very lightly with powdered sugar. Serve immediately after assembling.
