Berry Tart

Recipe: http://elise.com/recipes/archives/001993berry_tart.php

I love Elise's blog, Simply Recipes. Most of my best dinners for Rosie's Place came from her blog..great tex-mex foods from scratch (black bean sauce with chicken enchiladas, lime-cilantro marinated chicken, black bean and fresh corn salad, etc etc). Her recipes are tried and true and always reliable.

I've made many successful pie crusts and have got the hang of making pie dough, but sweet tart dough has eluded me for some time now. I've made a lot of tarts...and have never gotten the crust right...am sort of stubborn about making pastry by hand using nothing but a bowl and my handy pastry blender (or forks) as opposed to a food processor. I just think that if grandmas used to do it by hand 100s of years ago without the aid of electronic equipment, then we can do it too.

I gave in. Since I can't get the dough right by hand, I finally decided to use a the food processor...needed to get this right on the first try.

Good bakers need a light touch and cool hands, and I have very hot hands when I get going. I get nervous about getting it just right and start sweating. I have trouble cutting the butter into the flour quickly and efficiently without overprocessing the dough. The great thing about using food processors is that with a few pulses, the butter is broken up into small lumps and distributed throughout the flour very quickly. From there you add the cold water, pulse a few more times, and your dough is ready to roll into a ball and chill in the fridge to rest the glutens in the flour before rolling it out and draping it into your tart pan.

My tart crust looks nothing like the one in the blog, but I love the substitution of a 1/4 cup of almond meal + the addition of almond extract into the ice water. The dough was speckled and had a fabulous mild, almondy fragrance once it all came together and I couldn't resist a few tastes of the dough.

I used leftover lemon syrup I had made (instead of the marmalade mixture specified in the recipe) for glazing the berries before pouring them into the baked crust.

It's super easy to make and is beautiful to look at. Also very patriotic and perfect for a July 4th celebration : )

The crust came out crumbly and tender. Slightly sweet. Hint of almond.