Fresh Berry Fruit Tart

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours

Ingredients

•     1 fully baked sweet tart crust
•     2 cups pastry cream (See recipe below)
•     6 ounces raspberries
•     6 ounces blueberries
•     6 ounces blackberries
•     1/3 cup red currant jelly

Instructions

Step 1: Bake the crust and let it cool to room temperature.

Step 2: Make the pastry cream and chill it (preferably the night before), and then spread chilled pastry cream inside the tart shell.

Step 3: Arrange fruit on top. Heat 1/3 cup of jelly and 1 tablespoon water. Drizzle on top of fruit tart.

Dorie Greenspan's Pastry Cream

Ingredients

•     2 cups whole milk
•     6 large egg yolks
•     1/2 cups sugar
•     1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
•     1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
•     3-1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits at room temperature
   

Instructions

Step 1: Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.

Step 2: Meanwhile, in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the egg yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and well blended.

Step 3: Still whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the hot milk– this will temper, or warm, the yolks so they won’t curdle.

Step 4: Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (making sure to get the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil.

Step 5: Keep at a boil, still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.

Step 6: Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk in the bits of butter, stirring until they are full incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth and silky.

Step 7: Scrape the cream into a bowl. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the cream to create an airtight seal and refrigerate the pastry cream until cold or, if you want to cool it quickly, put the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water, and stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.