Category Archives: Berry Tart

Look Ma! (I wish) I Did It Myself!

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QC and I rarely have desserts out, but last week it was included in our meal, so what’s a person to do? We had “pizookies” at BJ’s and I instantly thought: “You know, this could be even better if….”

I made my chocolate and raspberry brownie tart free standing, not in a tin. I also add raspberry Jammie bits to the batter, raspberry coulis and whole raspberries because, as you might guess, I like raspberries.

The amount of raspberry stood up to the otherwise overwhelming dominant chocolate. I also made the hot fudge, caramel sauce and coulis.

Tart Ring and Foil
Foil Wrapped Ring
Baked Brownie Base
Ganache Covered Brownie
Raspberry Coulis on Ganache Coated Brownie
Chocolate and Raspberry Brownie Tart with Raspberry Coulis, Hot Fudge and Caramel Sauce Drizzles.

Chocolate And Raspberry Brownie Tart

INGREDIENTS
BROWNIES
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup + 2 Tbl dark cocoa
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup + 2 Tbl sugar
• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
• ½ cup + 2 Tbl AP flour
• ½ cup chocolate chips
• ½ cup jammy bits
• 1 ½ Tbl honey or seedless raspberry jam
• ½ Tbl water
CHOCOLATE GANACHE GLAZE
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 20 g (½ Tbl) light corn syrup
• 200 g (1⅓ c) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• ½ tablespoon vanilla extract

METHOD

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease eight 4” tart rings and cover the bottom and outside with aluminum foil. (Spray the sides of the tart ring and foil on the bottom cooking spray.)
  2. Crack the 2 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, and vanilla until smooth.
  3. Add the sugar and melted butter, stirring until smooth.
  4. Add the flour, chips, and Jammy Bits, again stirring well. The batter will be very thick.
  5. Spoon 90 g of batter to half fill each tart ring and smooth with a small offset spatula
  6. Bake the brownies for 12-16 minutes, checking the temperature after 8 minutes. The brownies are done when a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean (200 degrees,) or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look moist, but not uncooked. Do not over bake! Remove them from the oven.
  7. Heat the honey or seedless raspberry jam with 1 Tbl of water and stir until smooth. Brush over the warm brownies. Set aside to cool for an hour or longer before topping with the ganache.
  8. Loosen the brownies from the rings by running a knife around the brownie. Carefully peel the aluminum foil from the brownie and release the brownie from the ring.
  9. To make the ganache, heat the cream and corn syrup until they begin to steam (60 sec in 1000W microwave.) Pour over the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes, add any flavorings, and whisk until smooth. Let cool for 15 minutes or so.
  10. Spread ganache over the brownies while it’s still warm but has begun to thicken — reheat if it thickens too much as you work. Allow several hours for the ganache to set up fully. You may refrigerate the brownies to hasten the setting of the ganache.
  11. Spread a tablespoon of raspberry sauce on the ganache, top with a scoop of ice cream and drizzle sauce(s) of your choice, i.e. hot fudge, raspberry, caramel or marshmallow. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Hot Fudge

INGREDIENTS

  • ⅔ c heavy cream
  • 144 g (½ c) light corn syrup
  • 70 g (⅓ c) light brown sugar – not packed
  • ¼ c unsweetened natural cocoa powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 170 g dark or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
  • 2 Tbl unsalted butter
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
    METHOD
  1. Bring cream, corn syrup, brown sugar, cocoa powder, optional salt, and half the
    chopped chocolate to a boil in a 1½-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat,
    stirring, until chocolate is melted. Reduce heat and cook at a low boil for 5 minutes,
    stirring frequently.
  2. Turn off the heat and add butter, vanilla, remaining chocolate, and stir until smooth.
  3. Cool slightly before serving.
  4. Cooled sauce can be stored in a jar with a lid or in airtight container in the
    refrigerator for many weeks. Reheat sauce before using by placing the desired
    portion in a microwave-safe bowl and heating for about 10 to 15 seconds, or reheat
    on the stovetop

Caramel Sauce
INGREDIENTS
• 112 g (½ c) RT butter
• 106 g (½ c) light brown sugar
• dash salt
• 144g (½ c) light corn syrup
• 7 oz (½ can) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
METHOD

  1. Melt the butter in 1½ quart or larger saucepan.
  2. Add the brown sugar and salt and combine. Stir in the corn syrup, mix well.
  3. Gradually add the sweetened condensed milk, stirring constantly. It can take 10-15 minutes to add the milk. Go very slowly!
  4. Cook and stir over medium heat to 220°F for sauce viscosity.
  5. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla.
  6. Store in sealable container when cool

Seedless Raspberry Coulis

INGREDIENTS
• 480 g fresh washed and dried raspberries
• 200 g (1 c) caster sugar
• 60 g (1/4 c) cold water
• 2 Tbl lemon juice

METHOD

  1. Add all ingredients to a 1 ½ quart saucepan
  2. Cook while stirring and mashing over medium heat until it thickens (~220 F)
  3. Strain the coulis through a fine mesh sieve.
  4. Pour into an airtight container and cool before sealing

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate!

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By special invitation is my almond-crust-cranberry-curd tart.

Today is Thanksgiving in the USA . Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the past year. It is believed to be modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the English colonists (Pilgrims) of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people.

For my whole life Thanksgiving centered around family and friends, old and new, sharing both a meal and each other. As a child Thanksgiving was held at our house and all our aunts, uncles and cousins would come for a huge mid-day meal. We had to finish early as our uncles had to go back to the farm to milk the cows. I had a lot of aunts and uncles and LOTS of cousins. Mostly I remember the pies, so many pies.

Since moving to California our son and daughter in law have hosted Thanksgiving and this year was no exception. There were over 20 people and enough food for 50.

I made an apple pie, an almond-crust-cranberry-curd tart (see below) and sweet potato dinner rolls. There were also two pumpkin pies and very little left when we were done.

Cranberry Curd Tart Almond Crust

INGREDIENTS
For the crust
• 99g (½ c) granulated sugar
• 113g (8 Tbl) unsalted butter, softened
• ¼ tsp table salt
• 1 tsp King Arthur Pure Vanilla Extract
• ½ tsp almond extract
• 180g (1½ c) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 72g (¾ c) almond flour or finely ground sliced or slivered almonds

For the cranberry curd
• 12 ounces cranberries (fresh or frozen)
• juice of one orange (~ ¼ c)
• 250g (1 ¼ c) sugar
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 113g (½ c, 1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon orange liqueur, such as TripleSec or Grand Marnier (optional)

For the Italian meringue
• 2 egg whites
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water

METHOD
Crust

  1. Mix butter with sugar then add salt then vanilla.
  2. Add egg and mix until incorporated. Stir in flour. Mix by hand like you are kneading bread until incorporated
  3. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 30 min
  4. Pre-heat oven to 350⁰F
  5. Butter tartl pans, or use non-stick pans
  6. Dock (prick holes in) bottom and sides of formed dough then refrigerate for 20 minutes
  7. Line tart pan with crumpled then smoothed parchment paper and fill with pastry weights.
  8. Paint edges of the tartlet with the egg wash.
  9. Bake in preheated oven 350⁰ F (175⁰ C) for 15 min. Remove pastry weights 5 minutes before the end of the bake.
  10. Immediately remove from pans and cool on a wire rack

    Cranberry Curd
  11. Heat the cranberries and orange juice in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until the cranberries split. Mix with an immersion blender then strain through a food mill or fine mesh sieve and discard the skins.
  12. Return the strained cranberry mixture to the saucepan and add the sugar, eggs, egg yolks, butter, vanilla, and orange liqueur (if using) to the pan and give everything a good stir. Heat gently over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and registers 170°F on an instant read thermometer (this usually takes about 8-9 minutes). Immediately strain (again) through a fine mesh sieve into a large measuring bowl and then pour into the prepared crust. (The curd can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week. You may need to bake it a few more minutes for the tart to set when baking from chilled)
  13. Bake (still at 350°F) until the curd is set (it should jiggle but not slosh), about 10 minutes. (Curd was jiggly after 20 more minutes baking.)
  14. Let cool at room temperature for about 1 hour, then transfer to the refrigerator to chill. You can serve this chilled or at room temperature.

    Italian meringue
  15. Add egg whites and cream of tartar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Heat sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium high heat.
  16. When the sugar mixture registers about 220°F turn on the mixer and begin beating the egg whites on medium speed.
  17. When the sugar mixture registers 240°F remove from heat and carefully pour into the mixer over the egg whites. Increase the mixer speed to high and beat until the egg whites form stiff peaks.
  18. Transfer to a piping bag (or zip top bag) and pipe onto cooled tart as desired. If you want, torch the meringue with a kitchen torch. (But since it is cooked, this is totally optional).

As long as the oven was on and I had time to wait for doughs to chill etc, I also made a loaf of artisan bread.

GF Berry – White Chocolate-Cream Cheese Tart

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We are going to a friends birthday luncheon today and QC and I thought a nice summery berry tart would be a nice dessert on a warm sunny day.

There were choices and challenges to this bake. The choice was, should I make a Berry Chantilly Cake or this tart. The tart won, but don’t feel bad, summer is a long time.

The challenge is our refrigerator died yesterday so we spent the afternoon buying and installing and transferring out food to a small refrigerator. While it is a bit inconvenient it’s only for a couple of weeks, and I only have one more required bake. (Note: required.)

I had some left over strawberries so dipped some in chocolate to add around the tart.

INGREDIENTS
Shell
• 100 g cold butter cut into small cubes
• 60 g icing sugar
• 200 g Kim’s Bread flour
• ½ tsp vanilla
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 eggs – 1 for the dough and the other 1 reserved for an egg wash
Filling:
• 1 (12 ounce) package white chocolate chips, melted and cooled
• ¼ c heavy cream
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
Topping:
• 2 c fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1 c fresh blueberries
• 1 c fresh raspberries
Glaze:
• 1 c water
• ½ c white sugar
• 2 Tbl cornstarch
• 2 Tbl corn syrup

METHOD
Shell

  1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease a 12-inch tart pan.
  2. Pulse flour, sugar and salt a few times to combing
  3. Add cubed butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse sand
  4. Add egg and pulse until the dough just comes together but does not clump into a ball.
  5. Chill in fridge for an hour.
  6. Roll dough between sheets of wax paper until ~2 inches wider and longer than the tart pan (It needs to cover the bottom and all sides of the pan,) then refrigerate for 15-30 minutes
  7. Spray tart pan and flip chilled sheet of dough onto the pan and press into all corners. Dock the dough on the bottom of the pan.
  8. Fill with baking beads and bake 15-20 minutes, until the dough is dry and the edges begin to brown.
  9. Take from oven and remove parchment paper.
  10. Egg wash the edges of the tart.
  11. Return to oven and bake crust until lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
    Filling
  12. Beat melted and cooled white chocolate and heavy cream in a bowl until smooth. Mix in cream cheese until thoroughly combined. Spread over cooled crust. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
    Glaze
  13. Combine 1/2 cup water and white sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Mix remaining 1/2 cup water and cornstarch together in a bowl until cornstarch dissolves; add to sugar mixture. Cook and stir until mixture thickens and clears, about 5 minutes. Stir in corn syrup and return to a boil. Remove glaze from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
    Topping
  14. Arrange strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries over cream cheese layer and brush with glaze. Chill for at least 1 hour; store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Kim’s Gluten Free Bread Flour Blend
Yield: 700g (5 c)
INGREDIENTS

  • 285g Bob’s Red Mill potato starch
  • 250g superfine white rice flour (DON’T use regular rice flour, ie Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 75g Tapioca flour
  • 75g Whey protein isolate or egg white protein.
  • 15g Xanthan gum
    METHOD
  1. Weigh all ingredients and add to a stand mixer bowl
  2. Mix on low, with bowl covered for 30 seconds