Tart it Up!

This is a very much delayed post. I have been keeping this in my draft box for almost a month. Whenever I wanted to work on this post, some other new and more 'exciting' stuff got into it's way :(


I remembered getting pretty nervous with the recipe as it was my maiden attempt at making crème patissiere or pastry cream as filling for this fresh berry tart. As usual, I tend to shy away with anything that has got to do with the stove. Before I set off to make the pastry cream, I checked the internet to get some idea how to really go about making it. The recipe makes it sound so simple, but I was certain that chances of me getting it right the first time would be very slim. I felt more confident after looking at the step-by-step photos from here and here. Even though I can't read the language in the second website, the pictures speak for themselves.


I was so glad when I managed to 'cook' the pastry cream without burning it...well almost...I must confess that there was just a tiny bit of brown layer at one corner, right at the bottom of the pan ;) The pastry cream was very smooth and not lumpy, most importantly, it tasted very very good! It was way better than any custard fillings which I have tasted before...and I suspect some of those tart fillings that I have tried were made with custard powder. The original pastry cream recipe calls for vanilla seeds, I didn't want to take the risk to put my precious vanilla pods (a gift from vb) to waste, I flavoured the pastry cream with vanilla extract instead.


I always fall back on this same recipe to make the pastry case...primarily because I think it doesn't use as much butter as compared to other shortcrust pastry recipes. The finished tart was dust generously with icing sugar...but it melted away as I was taking photos of the tart. That was because I have left the tart to chill in the fridge while I was doing the cleaning up. The strawberries were as tangy as usual (**sigh**), fortunately the icing sugar helped to make them less sour. The pastry cream greatly enhanced the overall taste of the tart. It was simply delicious...light and refreshing...especially after it was chilled in the fridge. We had it right after dinner, and the four of us finished up 3/4 of the tart. We could have devoured the entire thing, but I insisted that we kept some 'leftovers' just so to make me feel less greedy ;) My husband was full of praises, which was something not to be expected on a 'regular basis". I didn't even have the chance to take a photo of a slice as whatever that was left was gone first thing the next morning.




Ingredients:
(makes one 18cm tart)

Pastry Case:
80g cake flour
20g almond powder
30g caster sugar
40g unsalted butter , soften at room temperature
1 tablespoon (15g) lightly beaten egg

Pastry Cream:
200ml milk
2 egg yolks
40g caster sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon* cornflour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon* plain flour
10g butter
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

some strawberries, blueberries
icing sugar for dusting

Method:

Pastry Case:

1. Lightly grease an 18cm tart pan, set aside.
2. Toast almond powder at 100 degC for 10 mins. Stirring in between. Let cool.
3. Sieve flour and almond powder, set aside.
4. With a manual whisk, cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy.
5. Dribble in the egg, whisk and mix well.
6. Sieve over the flour/almond meal mixture in 2 to 3 additions into the batter. Fold the mixture gently with a spatula.
7. Form and shape the pastry into a round disc. Roll out the pastry in between 2 sheets of cling wrap or baking paper (I used two sheets of cut-out plastic bags) to about 23cm in diameter.
8. Remove one side of the cling wrap/baking paper. Flip the pastry over the prepared tart pan. Remove the other cling wrap/baking paper. Mould the pastry into the tart pan, smoothing the edges and the rim carefully. If the pastry is too soft to handle, chill it in the fridge for 10~15 mins.
9. Chill the moulded pastry in the fridge for 20mins. (This helps to prevent the pastry from shrinking too much after baking.)
10. Use a fork to poke holes (as many holes as you can) on the pastry surface. Brush the top of the rim with egg wash. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 10~12 mins until the edges turned slightly browned. Let cool completely.


Pastry Cream:

11. In a saucepan, bring milk slowly to the boil and remove from the heat.
12. In a mixing bowl, with a manual whisk, whisk egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale and thickens. Sieve over the corn flour and plain flour. Whisk until the mixture becomes smooth.
13. Add in the hot milk gradually to the yolk mixture, whisk constantly to prevent curdling.
14. Pour the mixture over a sieve and return it to the saucepan. Heat gently, stirring constantly with a whisk or a wooden spoon until the mixture just starts to boil. When it boils, continue to stir constantly for another 1 minute, the mixture will become very thick and very difficult to stir. It is important to stir the mixture constantly as it cooks so that it thickens but doesn't turn lumpy.
15. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract (or other liqueur such as Grand Marnier, Brandy, Kirsch, Rum as desired).
16. Pour into a clean bowl and cover the surface of the pastry cream with cling wrap and set aside to cool completely. This is to prevent a skin from forming. After cooling, the pastry cream will be very thick. When ready to use, just whisk it with a spoon and it will become spreadable.


Assemble:

17. Spread the pastry cream evenly onto the cooled tart case. Arrange strawberries/blueberries on top and dust with icing sugar. Best serve on the day it is made. Keep for one day if refrigerated.

Recipe Source: adapted from (1) Delicious!! Baked Cakes, Ikuko Omori, (2) Fresh Baked by Louise Pickford

Note: for the pastry cream, I only made 2/3 portion as the original recipe is enough to fill a much bigger tart. As a result the amount for the corn flour and plain flour was a little unusal!