In Need of Inspiration

I’ve been slacking again, haven’t I? It’s not that I haven’t been busy, or haven’t made anything. I think I just haven’t been motivated to write or share anything exciting. Oh, I’ve been busy all right, and I’ve made w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l things, both in and out of the kitchen; I’ve just been in an inspirational slump.

So, this past weekend, I decided to make something to perk things up. Cuisine at Home had a wonderful looking tart recipe in their August 2006 issue that was just pining for some fresh Florida strawberries. And being that hubby has an incestuous attraction to tarts (no…not THOSE kind of tarts!), I decided to give it a try.

It’s a lovely custardy thing, with eggs and lemon curd, and milk, and honey. I especially liked the crust, which was more of a shortbread than a pie crust. The only thing I would change would be the jelly glaze used; I would have rather liked a citrus marmalade or jelly. I think the apple jelly didn’t do the lemon undertones justice. There’s always next time!

This is a wonderful tart to make in the dead of winter, or whenever you just need a little sunshine and inspiration!

Summer Fruit Tart with Honey-Lemon Cream and Fresh Berries
Recipe Source: Cuisine at Home, August 2006

Crust:
1 ¼ cups of all purp flour
½ cup powdered sugar
¼ tsp salt
zest of 1 lemon
1 stick of butter, cold & cubed (1/2 cup)
1 egg yolk (reserve the egg white)

Filling:
Reserved egg white from crust
½ cup lemon curd (you can buy this at any grocery…or make your own!)
3 eggs
¼ cup all purp flour
3 T of cornstarch
Pinch of salt
2 cups of whole milk
1/3 cup of honey
2 T butter
Juice of ½ lemon

Glaze:
¼ cup of jelly (apple, orange marmalade, apricot)
Juice of ½ lemon
Fresh assorted berries, about 2 cups

Crust:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9” tart pan with removable bottom with a nonstick spray. Process flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest in a food processor until combined (a few pulses). Add butter and pulse till mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Dump mixture into a large bowl and blend in egg yolk with your hands (it’s easier this way). Mixture will still be very coarse/crumbly and will not clump together. Dump mixture into your tart pan and press into pan and up sides. Bake 12-15 minutes until golden brown. When you remove the crust from oven, take a spoon and press down on the crust as it will puff up a little. Place tart crust on cooling rack.

Filling:
Whisk reserved egg white and lemon curd together; add eggs. Combine flour, cornstarch, and salt together in separate bowl, then gradually add to lemon curd mixture. In a saucepan, bring milk and honey to a simmer over medium heat. Temper milk mixture with lemon curd mixture, then add all of lemon curd mixture to saucepan. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly, stir continuously. Be sure to allow the filling to boil/bubble for 1 full minute, as it will cook off the starchy flavor from the flour and cornstarch.

Take filling off heat and add butter and lemon juice. Mix well, then pour custard into cooled crust. Cover with plastic wrap (to prevent a skin from forming) and chill until set; about 4 hours or overnight.

Glaze:
Melt jelly and lemon juice over medium heat in a saucepan or a few seconds a microwave. Use a basting brush to brush glaze over the top of the tart. Add berries on top and brush with glaze. Enjoy!