Alice Waters' Blueberry and Lemon Tart
The pâte sucrée is easy to make. I baked mine a day before I added the filling. You might have some leftover dough, which you can be used to a cookie a cookie or two. If you have enough you can make a mini tart. The eggs and butter should be at room temperature. You can use an 11-inch round tart pan with a removable button or 8 individual 4-inch tart pans. I think this tart would also look good in a rectangular tart pan. The dough is easy to work with. I think frozen blueberries would be fine in this recipe.
Ingredients:
The Páte Sucrée ¼ pound (113 grams) unsalted butter at room temperature ½ cup ( 100g) sugar ¼ tsp salt ¼ tsp vanilla extract 1 egg yolk 1 ¼ cup unbleached all-purpose flour The Lemon Curd grated zest of two lemons juice of two lemons (about 6 TBS ) 3 TBS water ½ cup (100 g ) sugar ¼ pound (1 stick ) (113 g) butter ¼ tsp salt 3 whole eggs 3 yolks The Blueberry Topping 3 cups blueberries (500g) ¼ cup sugar 2 TBS water 
|
Directions:
The Pâte Sucrée: With a mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy, about two to three minutes. Add the salt, vanilla and egg yolk and mix until combined. Add the flour and mix for a short time. Put the dough on a dry surface, and with the palm of your hand, push the dough away from you until you get a ball that holds together. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and flatten it into a disk. Chill the dough for several hours or overnight. Take the dough out of he refrigerator and let it stand for a a few minutes to soften a little. Roll out a 13-inch disc of dough between two square pieces of floured parchment paper or two sheets of plastic wrap (which I prefer). Loosen the sheets while rolling it out, so it won’t stick to the paper. Flip the dough around while rolling it out and keep loosening the plastic wrap to prevent sticking. Roll out the 13-inch circle of dough that is 1/8 inch thick. Chill the dough with the wrap for a few minutes. Remove the plastic wrap and roll the dough around a pin to put it in the tart shell. Alice Waters gives instructions to only remove one sheet and flip the dough into the tart pan and then remove the second sheet. I think both methods will work. Use any dough scraps to patch any cracks. Chill the tart in the freezer for ten minutes before baking. Put the tart directly from the freezer into a preheated 350˙F oven and bake for about 15 minutes until slightly golden. Lemon Curd Slowly over a low heat, heat the lemon juice, water, sugar, and salt in a heavy bottomed saucepan until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Whisk the whole eggs and egg yolks in a bowl and very slowly drizzle the lemon mixture into the egg mixture stirring constantly. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over a low heat while stirring all the time, scraping the bottom of the pot until the curd thickens, about 5 minutes. Be careful with your heat so the mixture doesn’t curdle. Strain the curd through a fine sieve and pour it into the baked tart shell while still warm. Spread evenly. Blueberry Topping Divide the blueberries into 1½ cups each and put half of the three cups into a saucepan. Add the water and sugar and cook over a medium heat for about five minutes, smashing the blueberries with a wooden until they turn into a thick jam. Fold the remaining cup and a half of blueberries into the jam, and heat for about a minute to warm them. Spoon the blueberry topping evenly over the lemon curd. Cool until the curd has set. My tart tasted the best the following day. Guten Appetit! recipe by Alice Waters posted by ©Sunnycovechef.com |