BLACKBERRIES IN CA

 When we were in California last week I noticed that the blackberries around the lake were ripe and delicious. So early one morning my mom, Vera, and I went out to pick blackberries.

They were so perfectly ripe. I must have forgotten, however, how poky blackberry bushes are. One thorn went through the sole of my shoe!

Goodness, nothing beats California for glorious landscape.

All of our scratches only amounted to about 2 cups of blackberries. So instead of a full blackberry pie, like I had intended, I was only able to make a fresh blackberry tart -a French recipe, of course! It is still July, you  know. And it was really good. My only complaint was slightly underbaking the crust. After I removed the pie weights, I should have left it in the oven for a few more minutes to get that bottom crust really crispy.

Here is the French Fresh Blackberry Tart recipe: It takes about 30 minutes start to finish so don't feel intimidated. Also, it is quite tasty.

BLACKBERRY TART

Crust (Pate Brisee, if you want to be French):

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut in pieces
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup ice water
  
  
  Place the flour, salt, and sugar in the bowl, and whisk for a few seconds to combine. Add the butter, and cut in with fingers or a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add less water than you think you will need. The dough should (JUST BARELY) hold together.  Press into a ball and flatten slightly. Refrigerate for 1 hour. At that point the dough should feel like play dough. If it's too crumbly (it's perfect for normal pies but not this one) add a bit more water and mix ever so gently.
  
  
  Roll out dough to be an inch or so larger than your tart shell. You can absolutely do this with a normal pie dish, but you wont be able to remove the shell like you see above. Carefully line your tart shell. Using an extra piece of dough, press the dough into all the crevices of the tart pan. Cut off excess around the top and "thumb up" the dough. 
  
  
  Thumbing up is a term I learned at Le Cordon Bleu. It means to hold one thumb at the top edge and press the dough from beneath it up to your thumb. Your top thumb is making sure the top of the dough lines up perfectly with your tart pan.
  
  
  This seems like a lot of directions, I know, but really I'm just trying to be thorough. 
  
  
  NOW, chill that dough lined tart pan for another 30 minutes.
  
  
  Line doughed tart pan with a piece of parchment and fill with pie weights or dried beans.
  
  
  Preheat oven to 375. Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork. This is called "docking" it helps to release steam so the bottom of the crust doesn't fill with air and bubble up. You want a nice and flat bottom.
  
  
  Bake for 40 minutes. Remove parchment and bake for 15 minutes more (I didn't do this part. wah wah wah) 
  
  
  Remove from tart pan and let cool. Or leave it in there and just let cool.
  
  
  
  
  Custard (Creme Patisserie, if you want to be French)
  
  
  • 1 cup whole milk (I used 2% in a pinch and it worked fine. My mom assured me it was "just like whole because it was so creamy" uhm, no, that's not how it works)
  • 1/2 vanilla bean, split
  • 5 tablespoons sugar
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon flour 
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
    
    
    Place milk, vanilla bean, and 1/4 cup sugar in a medium saucepan over high heat; cook until almost boiling.
    
    
    In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar until thickened. Sprinkle in cornstarch and flour and continue beating until well combined.
  Remove vanilla bean from milk. While whisking constantly, slowly pour heated-milk mixture into egg-yolk mixture. Pour mixture through a fine sieve back into saucepan, and cook, whisking constantly, over medium-high heat, until it thickens about 2 minutes.
  
  
  NOTE: You dont HAVE to pour it through a fine sieve -I didn't. You just might get a few tiny clumps here and there. Wont affect the taste or appearance really, you just wont get full marks at pastry school.
  
  
  Transfer to a large bowl and whisk in butter until melted. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly on the surface of the pastry cream; refrigerate until completely cooled.
  
  
  
  
  Assembly (no French term for this one, right now.)
  
  
  You can either fill the tart shell with the pastry cream all by itself, or you can fold in about a half cup to a cup of whipped cream. Your call. Both delicious. Top the cream with all your delicious berries (about 2 cups washed and dried). Eat and enjoy. 
  
  
  NOTE: If you want to earn top marks at pastry school you'll need a nappage. Mix about a 1/4 cup of jam (your choice, the less chunky the better) with about 1/4 c water. Boil until it is the "right" consistency. You'll be painting this on top of your fruit (it makes them "keep" longer -like that's necessary because you'll probably want to eat the whole thing by yourself at one time- and it makes them "prettier". The consistency should not be watery or jam-y. It should coat the back of a spoon and be easy to brush onto your fruit. Really not necessary. But there you are.
  
  
  
  

And Bonus: Vera with her California best friend (sorry Dinah), Marcel. This pup loved her so much. He wanted to be next to her at all times.