Cooking
Blueberries are intense. Intense color that stains your mouth purple. Intense sweet and tangy juice so rich it almost tastes like wine. Unlike other fruit, such as apples, they don't even need vanilla or cinnamon to give them a boost. They are the boost. The intensity of blueberries make them a nice kind of accent to other dishes, like in a fruit salad or a salsa. They are also great as polka dots in pancakes and muffins but a little trickier in pie. Just too intense. That's why I love blueberry tarts.
I know I just wrote about blueberries. But when you pick a bucket full you end up with about four pounds, which is a lot of blueberries! So in addition to taking my own advice when it comes to using blueberries I also called my mom for a recipe for a blueberry tart. This particular recipe uses three cups of blueberries and combines them with a sour cream filling that bakes up like a custard. Plopping blueberries into a custardy base, a pastry cream or clafouti seems like the right way to handle them.
I am hopeless when it comes to pie crust. I just don't have the pie crust mojo. So I rely on recipes with graham cracker crusts, and press-in crusts. This recipe has a crust that is no fail. Really. I swear. I'm going to use it as my default pie crust from now on. My mom cut the recipe out of a newspaper over twenty years ago so I apologize for not being able to attribute it properly. I have simplified the instructions somewhat.
Mom's Blueberry Tart
Ingredients
Pastry:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 lb butter (1 stick)
2 Tablespoon sour cream
Filling:
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
3 cups blueberries
Instructions
Cut the ingredients with a pastry blender or with two butter knives. Press into a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Make sure the crust goes up the sides of the pan and try to pat it into the pan as evenly as you can. Prick the crust with a fork and bake at 375 degrees for 20 min, cool.
Wash the berries and let them dry on paper towels. Beat together all the remaining ingredients. Spread berries into the crust and pour liquid filling over the berries. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until lightly browned on top.
Enjoy!
- Blueberry Muffins:recipe
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- Rhubarb Blueberry Pie: Recipe
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- All About Blueberries
When I was growing up, Summer vacation meant camping trips. My family would head north and up the Oregon coast to play in the dunes, go beachcombing, and enjoy spectacular scenery all along the way. One stop we used to make on our trips was blueberry...
- The Blueberries Are Coming! The Blueberries Are Coming!
I’ve lived in my house for going on 20 years now. Not long after I moved in I purchased a blueberry bush and planted it in my backyard. It’s pretty fuzzy now, but as I recall the place where I bought it had only one and it wasn’t labeled with the...
- 'b' Is For "brrrr' And 'blueberry'
Alex is a fruit monster. Cartons of berries disappear the day they're purchased. Melons last only as long as it takes to cut them up. The kid inhales fruit. One of his favorite fruits is blueberries. While shopping over the weekend, Matt noticed...
Cooking
Mom's Blueberry Tart: Recipe
Blueberries are intense. Intense color that stains your mouth purple. Intense sweet and tangy juice so rich it almost tastes like wine. Unlike other fruit, such as apples, they don't even need vanilla or cinnamon to give them a boost. They are the boost. The intensity of blueberries make them a nice kind of accent to other dishes, like in a fruit salad or a salsa. They are also great as polka dots in pancakes and muffins but a little trickier in pie. Just too intense. That's why I love blueberry tarts.
I know I just wrote about blueberries. But when you pick a bucket full you end up with about four pounds, which is a lot of blueberries! So in addition to taking my own advice when it comes to using blueberries I also called my mom for a recipe for a blueberry tart. This particular recipe uses three cups of blueberries and combines them with a sour cream filling that bakes up like a custard. Plopping blueberries into a custardy base, a pastry cream or clafouti seems like the right way to handle them.
I am hopeless when it comes to pie crust. I just don't have the pie crust mojo. So I rely on recipes with graham cracker crusts, and press-in crusts. This recipe has a crust that is no fail. Really. I swear. I'm going to use it as my default pie crust from now on. My mom cut the recipe out of a newspaper over twenty years ago so I apologize for not being able to attribute it properly. I have simplified the instructions somewhat.
Mom's Blueberry Tart
Ingredients
Pastry:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 lb butter (1 stick)
2 Tablespoon sour cream
Filling:
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
3 cups blueberries
Instructions
Cut the ingredients with a pastry blender or with two butter knives. Press into a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Make sure the crust goes up the sides of the pan and try to pat it into the pan as evenly as you can. Prick the crust with a fork and bake at 375 degrees for 20 min, cool.
Wash the berries and let them dry on paper towels. Beat together all the remaining ingredients. Spread berries into the crust and pour liquid filling over the berries. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until lightly browned on top.
Enjoy!
- Blueberry Muffins:recipe
My latest warehouse find was an enormous package of blueberries imported from Canada. Looking at the package I saw the word "bleuets". Apparently in French speaking Canada blueberries are called bleuets. Isn't that a sweet word? Much more charming...
- Rhubarb Blueberry Pie: Recipe
I have confession to make. Just the thought of making pastry scares me. With savory food you can usually fix whatever you're making along the way. You can taste for seasonings and for "doneness". But when you bake something you just don't have...
- All About Blueberries
When I was growing up, Summer vacation meant camping trips. My family would head north and up the Oregon coast to play in the dunes, go beachcombing, and enjoy spectacular scenery all along the way. One stop we used to make on our trips was blueberry...
- The Blueberries Are Coming! The Blueberries Are Coming!
I’ve lived in my house for going on 20 years now. Not long after I moved in I purchased a blueberry bush and planted it in my backyard. It’s pretty fuzzy now, but as I recall the place where I bought it had only one and it wasn’t labeled with the...
- 'b' Is For "brrrr' And 'blueberry'
Alex is a fruit monster. Cartons of berries disappear the day they're purchased. Melons last only as long as it takes to cut them up. The kid inhales fruit. One of his favorite fruits is blueberries. While shopping over the weekend, Matt noticed...