Cherry Blueberry Tart - And How To Salavage A Bad Day

I made this tart with the 4th of July in mind- red cherries, blueberries, and pastry cream seemed like a pretty patriotic combination (though I will admit, the egg yolks, vanilla and liqueur in the pastry cream turned it a bit yellowy/tan rather than white) and since I have been trying to make desserts inspired by holidays this year (my green st. patty's day cake was a hit) I decided to make this to continue the theme.

As it happens, the day I made this was shaping up to be JUST NOT A VERY GOOD DAY. Things were not going my way, and I felt angry and hurt by a series of events that morning. I was hesitant to start a project while feeling that way, worried that I would not be able to concentrate and put my best effort in. After some convincing from my favorite (and only) sister, I ended up discovering that making this tart was in fact just what my day needed. I turned on London Calling (which makes for great "I'm angry and I'm gonna bake things!" music), threw on my apron, and sang along while I worked. And I may have danced a bit. I am sure I looked like a fool, but by the time the tart was done, not only did I have a delicious dessert to show for it, my bad mood had been magically repaired. And I knew how to make pastry cream.



The components of this recipe were gathered from a few different sources, the pastry cream is from this recipe at joyofbaking.com as is the apricot glaze. The crust was a basic graham crust from The New Best Recipe which I added a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg to for interest.

Basic Graham Crust
Adapted from The New Best Recipe by the publishers of Cook's Illustrated
9 graham crackers (1 package)
5 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 315F
2. Melt the butter in and set in a medium sized mixing bowl
3. Break the graham crackers into pieces and place in a food processor. Process until it is the consistency of cornmeal and no large pieces remain.
4. Add the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and pulse to combine.
5. Pour the mixture into the bowl with the butter, combine until all pieces are evenly coated with butter.
6. pour into a greased tart pan, and press into the bottom of the pan and around the sides using the bottom of a cup measure or small bowl.
7. Place on the middle shelf in the oven and cook for 15-18 minutes.
8. Let cool.

Pastry cream
from joyofbaking.com

1 1/4 cups milk (I used heavy cream as I had it on hand)

1/2 vanilla  bean, split lengthwise- (or substitute 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract if needed, it's what I did...)

3 large egg yolks

1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1/8 cup  all-purpose flour (I ended up using whole wheat flour, again, what I had on hand!)

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3/4 tablespoons liqueur (I used Grand Marnier) 

Directions:  (I cut and pasted these from the original source, joyofbaking.com as it is rather complicated and I didn't want any of the steps to get lost in translation, though I did cut out a few side notes they had included and reformatted it as I found the previous format a bit confusing to the eye, but feel free to check the link above to view the original if what I have done here is confusing.)  

1.  In a medium-sized stainless steel bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks together with a spoon. (Never let the mixture sit too long or you will get pieces of egg forming.) Sift the flour and cornstarch together and then add to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste.  Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan combine the milk and split vanilla bean on medium heat until boiling. (The milk will foam up to the top of pan when done, so watch carefully.)
3. Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. (If you get a few pieces of egg (curdling) in the mixture, pour through a strainer.) 
4. Remove vanilla bean, scrape out seeds, and add the seeds to the egg mixture.  
5. Place the egg mixture back into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 - 60 seconds until it becomes very thick and it is hard to stir.   
6. Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the liqueur. Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Cool. If not using right away refrigerate until needed, up to 3 days. Beat before using to get rid of any lumps that may have formed.

Apricot Glaze

Adapted from joyofbaking.com

1/4 cup apricot Jam

1/2 Tablespoon Grand Mariner

1/4 Tablespoon water 

1. Heat the apricot jam and water in a small sauce pan over medium heat until liquid
2. Remove from heat and add the liqueur, stir
3. If needed, strain to remove any lumps
4. allow to cool.

Then, to bring it all together:

 The last step of course, was to cut the fruit (I left the blueberries whole, but cut the cherries in half and removed the pits) and then assemble:

Into the cooled crust: smooth the pastry cream into an even coat at the bottom, layer the fruit on top of it in concentric circles, then paint on the glaze over the fruit with a pastry brush. Refrigerate. Happy Belated 4th of July!

A Taste of Summer- Sweet/Savory Fruit Salad and a Southern Maine Adventure.

My extended family (including a few family members and many "should be family members" friends) took a trip recently to our favorite "BYO-everything but lobster" joint in Kittery point, Maine for father's day. The forecast in Boston called for unrelenting heat and possible thunderstorms, but Southern Maine was expected to have a lovely day in the high seventies. The group of 13 of us (Plus 3 dogs) caravaned out at 2pm, coolers loaded up with bread and cheese and hummus and crackers, and between the group of us not one but 4 salads (shepard's salad, corn and bean salad, an eggplant salad from The Family Resteraunt in Brookline, and my own watermelon-herb salad featured today). We arrived at the pier, snagged one of the only tables available, which happened to be under no cover whatsoever, and began to unpack. Tablecloths first, then out came the wine glasses and wine was poured for nearly everyone, then the cheeses and bread, chips, crackers and hummus, dishes of water for the dogs, we settled in as always as if we lived there.

It was hotter than the forecast had predicted, and temperatures near 90 and hot sun started to threaten the comfort of our planned perfect afternoon. Then it started to pour. We scrambled to put our food and belongings under cover of the giant picnic table, then ran to protect ourselves under the giant tent that sheilded the tables on the right side of the pier from the elements. It was a Sunday, and a holiday, and the place was pretty packed. There were not any tables to switch to in either of the covered areas. We asked our server if we would be able to switch when a table came available, and she checked with a manager and said it would be fine. Of course this isn't the first time we had been rained on out there, in fact we often joke about how we have gone to this outdoor establishment in every type of weather and still enjoyed ourselves. Rain, Sun, Cold, bring it on! We were cheerful to be spending time together as a group, and to be in such a beautiful part of the world, about to eat an abundance of fresh lobster and clams mere yards from where they may have been caught.

Luckily the rain subsided fairly quickly and we returned to our table, resetting it with tablecloths etc and opptimistically hoping the rain was over with for good. Of course it was not. At least the second time around the rain was more of a "heavy-shower" and less of a torrential downpour. We sat at our table, trying to be good sports, eating and getting rained on. The second rain cleared up quickly as well, and instead of leaving the air cooler and more comfortable, it was then hotter than ever, and in the direct sun many of us started to feel dizzy and sick from the heat. A table undercover had finally opened up. We asked if we could move to it and then started bringing over our food. (There is more to this story that involves getting yelled at mercilessly by the owner's son who has an awful temper, who said we couldn't move because that table was "reserved" even though they supposedly don't take reservations...but in the interest of keeping this short and semi-sweet I think I won't go into that).

Anyway, despite all the weather related setbacks (and even the wrath of the breifly mentioned owner's son) we enjoyed our day, and our lobster. Don't we all look cheerful (and dry) in this picture taken when we first arrived?

Watermelon-Herb Salad

Adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine*

Half of a large watermelon, cut into even cubes

1-2 Tablespoons each fresh chopped mint, basil and dill

1 lb of chopped heirloom tomatoes (I used 1 container of Trader joes mini heirlooms, each cut in half)

3 Naval Oranges, sliced into slivers, membrane cut off

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup sliced almonds, slightly toasted

1 1/2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

*Note: changes I have made to this recipe include removing the arugala originally called for (I had to make mine far in advance and didn't want wilty greens, so I cut them out all together) as well as removing the olive oil called for, and adding the addition of the naval oranges. The picture posted at the top of my salad does not include the toasted almonds, which with the chaos of the rain starting, I forgot to add in time for the picture!

I loved the fresh flavors of this salad, and my taste-testing roommates agreed it tasted like "pure summer". The best part? What could be easier to bring to a potluck, picnic or lobster pier?