cherry tart.

It is quite odd to me that I have never made a tart. I have baked hundreds of cakes, cupcakes, brownies, blondies, cookies, puddings, and pies, but have never quite gotten around to the creation of a nice fruity tart. My thrifted tart pan has been hidden for a couple of years at the bottom of my oven drawer... poor thing.

My mom purchased a bag of cherries during her visit up here that never got eaten, so I decided to put them to good use by finally making a cherry tart. I altered a recipe that I found through Recipezaar and used a pie crust that I had made last night from Clotilde's cookbook. All in all, I was quite pleased with the result. A sweet creamy filling with juicy cherries inside of a buttery pastry- yum.









Pate Brisee (or Short Pastry): from Chocolate & Zucchini

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Ice-cold water

Sift the flour into a medium mixing bowl. Add the salt and diced butter, and rub the mixture with the tips of your fingers or a wire pastry blender until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Beat the egg lightly in a small bowl. Form a well in the center of the flour mixture, add the egg and blend it in gently with a fork. When most of the egg is incorporated, knead gently until the dough comes together. If it is a little dry, add ice-cold water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until the dough forms a ball. Avoid overworking the dough, or it will be tough.
Shape the dough into a slightly-flattened ball. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes, or up to a day. Let stand at room temperature before using, just about 10 minutes, but it will vary depending on the heat and humidity. The dough can also be frozen for up to a month.
Sprinkle flour lightly on a work surface and on your rolling pin, and place the slightly flattened ball of dough on your work surface in front of you. Roll the pin over the dough two or three times with moderate pressure. Rotate the dough by a quarter of a turn clockwise and roll the pin over it two or three times. Repeat these steps until you get a circle large enough to line your pan, sprinkling the work surface and the rolling pin with a little more flour when the dough starts to stick to either of them.

Grease your tart pan with butter or margarine and press the dough into it.

Cherry Tart

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon orange juice
1 1/2 to 2 cups fresh cherries, pitted and sliced

In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the cherries, mixing well. Fold in the fresh cherries. Spread the mixture into your prepared crust to about 1/2 inch thickness, leaving a 1/4 inch margin uncovered at edge. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for about another 35-40 minutes.
Cool and slice as desired for serving.



*Note: I accidentally made enough filling for two pies and I had a little bit extra pie dough, so Alice used one of my children's baking pans and made the sweet little heart-shaped tart. I adore it.