Berrylicious Tart

Some people don't like chocolate. I am most definitely not one of them. But if I were, this would be my favorite dessert. This is the first tart recipe I've ever tried and it may well be the last. It it just too easy and too perfect. You can make it hours to days in advance, and you can fill it with just about anything. I found it in my new favorite cookbook, Baking; from my home to yours. I actually skipped the full tart recipe, which called for pastry cream (dozens of eggs!) and fruit glaze (not my favorite) and just made the dough. Then I filled it with homemade whipped cream (nothing better) and topped it with fresh fruit, no glaze necessary. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Dough-
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick plus 1 tsp (9 tsp) very cold butter but into small pieces
1 large egg yolk
Whipped Cream-
Heavy whipping cream
a few TB sugar
Filling-
fresh fruit, lemon custard, whatever you want!

Tart Preparation:
Put the flour, confectioners' sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Drop in the butter pieces and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in. Stir the yolk to break it apart, then add it a bit at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is fully in, process the dough in long pulses until the dough forms "clumps and curds." (You can hear the difference when the dough has reached this point.) Turn the dough onto a work surface and knead a bit until the dough sticks together.

Butter a fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Press dough into the pan. Seems strange at first but it will spread out nicely as you push into it. Press the dough until it is pretty thin, it will rise.

Freeze the dough for at least 30 minutes and as long as overnight.
Pre-heat oven to 375. The recipe calls for fitting the dough with a buttered piece of foil to keep it from rising. I've tried this recipe both with and without the foil and didn't notice a difference. So that part is up to you. Bake on the center rack for 25-30 minutes. Remove the foil (if you used it) and push down the dough a bit with the back of a spoon. Put tart back in the oven until it turns a golden brown, approximately 5-8 more minutes. Remove from oven and immediately transfer to a rack to cool to room temperature before filling.

Whipped Cream Preparation:
Whip heavy cream with electric beater. Note that the cream will almost triple in size. Usually half a pint is sufficient. Add sugar to taste. Whipped cream can be stored in the fridge for a few hours.

Putting it all together:
Spread whipped cream on crust. Top with fresh berries. Serve right away. That's it!

Special thanks for Jodi and Erin for their photography!