TRIPLE BERRY RUSTIC TART

Oh what do you do in the Summertime, when all the world is green.

Do you fish in a stream or lazily dream, on the banks as the clouds go by?

Is that what you do . . .

HECK NO!

I pick Raspberries for hours upon end, as well as peas, beans and countless other things.

I did stop for a brief moment and made this . . .

I wanted to do something with all those big beautiful berries, other than freeze them.

It was quite fast & very simple.

 I combined fresh raspberries with a few frozen blueberries and frozen huckleberries.

You will also need:

Puff Pastry, a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, egg wash, Turbinado or granulated sugar and your favorite jam or jelly. I am using my homemade plum jelly from last years plum harvest.

Add 1/4 cup of jam or jelly to 4 cups berries, and stir together gently. (It really would be better if your berries are all fresh and not frozen.)

Since some of my berries were frozen, I knew that I would have extra juice or liquid.  I also stirred in 1 heaping Tablespoon of Cornstarch.  This will help thicken it. Stir again.

Place a sheet of Puff Pastry on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Make sure that the seams have been rolled out, so that you don’t have any cracks in the pastry.  Take an egg yolk and combine it with 1 teaspoon of cold water.  With a fork, stir it until it’s combined.  Brush a light wash over the top of the pastry.  This will help seal the pastry, when all those juices come rushing out!

See what I mean!  It’s o.k…..don’t panic.  You must move quickly though.  Bring up the sides of the pastry and from a cute little basket around the berries. Make sure that you don’t have any open spots that the juice can escape through.

Brush the puff pastry lightly with your egg wash, and sprinkle with Turbinado Sugar or granulated sugar.

It will look something like this.  Now place the cookie sheet in the freezer for about 15 minutes or so.  Trust me . . . you can skip this step, but your tart will come out much better and prettier if you do this first before baking. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees while the tart is chilling.  I placed my tart in the center of the oven for about 20 minutes.  Let it get a nice golden brown.  Turn the oven down now to 350 degrees and move your oven rack down one more notch.  You want to make sure that the underside is also nice and golden.  If the top is getting too brown, simply make a loose foil tent over the tart.

Once it comes out of the oven, you can sprinkle a bit more sugar on the puff pastry if you like.  Let it cool, then transfer it to a wire rack.  This way, you are assured a crisp bottom crust and not a soggy one.  Serve this with Ice Cream or Whipped Cream.  YUM!

Now . . . go pick more Raspberries . . . uggg.

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TRIPLE BERRY RUSTIC TART

A rustic tart implies a free-form pie. It is not necessary to make a perfect circle, square or rectangle.  Use prepared frozen puff pastry for this recipe. Each box contains two 12-inch squares and will make two rustic tarts.

Puff pastry thaws in a short time at room temperature. Occasionally, it may crack during handling; simply press it back together. Sometimes it sticks together a little when unfolding, but separate it as best you can, dust it with a little flour and roll it out. You will want to make it a couple of inches larger all the way around than its original size. Roll it out on parchment paper to save preparation clean up and ease the transition from roll out to baking pan. The parchment will deter juice runs that might drip onto the bottom of the oven. Once the pastry is rolled out, brush what will be the inside of the tart with a little beaten egg yolk and milk or water to help seal in the juices.

This rustic tart relies on jam or jelly to surround the fruit or berries with ready-made flavor and to intensify the flavor of the filling.  Having a lot of  raspberry and plum jam on hand, I decided to use plum, but you could use any jam or jelly you like.

You could also use fresh sliced peaches with the raspberry jam.

(For one Tart, I used about 4 cups of berries.)

If you want to have a thicker filling, toss the berries with cornstarch before stirring in the jam or jelly. You can use up to one tablespoon cornstarch per cup of berries. I find fresh summer berries sweet enough with the jam, but more sugar can be included with the cornstarch if you like.

Once you’ve rolled out the pastry, transfer it to the baking pan. Place the filling in the center and start bringing the edges of the pastry toward the center. You can cut away the points or incorporate them into the crust. Brush additional egg wash on the outside of the pastry, then sprinkle with sugar. Coarse-grain turbinado sugar is nice to use, but granulated sugar works well, also. Place the cookie sheet with the tart in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes before baking. Place the tart on the middle shelf of a preheated, 400-degree oven for about 15 to 20 minutes. Every oven is a little different, so check to be sure the pastry does not brown too quickly.

The filling with cornstarch needs to bubble a bit longer to thicken, so it will need to bake for an additional 15 minutes or so at 350 degrees. If necessary place some foil around the edges of the tart to keep it from browning too much while the filling continues to cook.

Allow the tart to cool on a rack, so air can flow around it. This will help keep the crust from becoming soggy on the bottom. Sometimes I sprinkle the parchment with thinly sliced almonds before rolling out the pastry, to add a crisp nutty flavor to the crust that’s especially good with peaches or apricots.

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