Mixed Berry Tart with Vanilla Pastry Cream

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A classic French pâtisserie tart built in three calm stages: a crisp, cookie-like pâte sucrée shell baked blind until deep gold, a thick vanilla pastry cream cooked on the stove, and a mound of raw berries piled on at the last minute with a thin apricot glaze for shine. The shell and cream both keep beautifully overnight, so the day you serve it the job is nothing more than spread, pile, glaze, slice.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 9 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon cold heavy cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten (for sealing)

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (or 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1/4 cup cold heavy cream (optional, for lightening)

• 6 oz raspberries
• 6 oz blueberries
• 6 oz strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered
• 4 oz blackberries, halved if large
• 1/3 cup apricot jam or red currant jelly
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• Powdered sugar and small mint leaves, for finishing (optional)

Instructions

1. Make the dough: In a food processor, pulse the all-purpose flour, powdered sugar, almond flour, and 1/4 teaspoon salt a few times to combine. Add the cold butter cubes and pulse in 1-second bursts, 12 to 15 times, until the mixture looks like coarse sand with no butter pieces bigger than a pea. Whisk the egg yolk, 1 tablespoon heavy cream, and vanilla together, drizzle it in, and pulse 8 to 10 more times, just until the dough starts clumping around the blade. It should hold together when squeezed.
2. Turn the dough onto a work surface, gather it into a disk about 5 inches across, wrap tightly, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 2 days. (No food processor? Rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips, then stir in the liquids with a fork.)
3. Roll and line the pan: Let the chilled dough sit at room temperature 5 to 10 minutes, then roll it on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch round about 1/8 inch thick, turning and re-flouring often. Drape it into a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom, easing it into the corners without stretching. Press the dough against the sides, then roll a rolling pin across the rim to cut the excess flush. Patch any thin spots with scraps. Prick the base all over with a fork and freeze the lined shell for 30 minutes (or refrigerate overnight, covered).
4. Blind bake: Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the lower third. Line the frozen shell with a crumpled sheet of parchment and fill it to the very top with pie weights or dried beans. Bake 22 minutes, then carefully lift out the weights and parchment. Return the shell to the oven and bake 12 to 16 minutes more, until the base is dry and the whole shell is an even deep golden brown — go further than feels comfortable; pale pastry goes soggy.
5. Seal and cool: While the shell is still hot, brush the interior all over — base and sides — with a thin coat of beaten egg white and return it to the oven for 2 minutes to set into a waterproof film. Cool completely in the pan on a rack, at least 1 hour. Once cool it keeps, loosely covered at room temperature, for up to 2 days.
6. Make the pastry cream: Pour the milk into a medium saucepan. Scrape in the vanilla bean seeds and add the pod. Bring just to a bare simmer over medium heat, then remove from the heat and let steep 10 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the granulated sugar, egg yolks, cornstarch, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until pale and thick, about 1 minute.
7. Temper and cook: Fish out the vanilla pod. Whisking the yolks constantly, pour in about 1 cup of the hot milk in a thin stream, then scrape the mixture back into the pan with the remaining milk. Cook over medium heat, whisking hard and constantly and getting into the corners, until the cream thickens suddenly and comes to a full bubble, 3 to 5 minutes. Keep whisking and boiling for a full 60 seconds — this cooks out the starchy taste and kills the enzyme that would thin the cream later.
8. Finish and chill the cream: Off the heat, whisk in the 2 tablespoons softened butter until smooth. Push the cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a shallow dish, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface, and refrigerate until cold and firm, at least 3 hours or overnight.
9. Assemble (up to 3 hours before serving): Whisk the cold pastry cream smooth — it will look stiff and broken at first, then turn glossy after 20 to 30 seconds. For a lighter set, whip the 1/4 cup cold heavy cream to soft peaks and fold it in. Spread the cream evenly in the cooled shell, about 3/4 inch deep, smoothing the top with an offset spatula.
10. Pile on the berries: Arrange the raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries over the cream in tight concentric rings or one generous rustic mound, setting them cut-side down and packing them closely so no cream shows through. Do not wash the berries at the last second — rinse and dry them thoroughly on towels well ahead, or don't rinse at all.
11. Glaze: Warm the apricot jam with the water in a small saucepan over low heat until fluid, about 2 minutes, then strain out any fruit chunks and stir in the lemon juice. Let it cool 2 minutes, then dab it over the berries with a soft pastry brush using light, rolling touches — enough for shine, not enough to pool.
12. Chill the finished tart 30 minutes to set the glaze. Unmold by setting the pan on a can and pressing the ring down and away. Dust the crust edge with powdered sugar, add mint if you like, and cut with a thin sharp knife, wiping the blade between slices. Best within 4 hours; refrigerate leftovers up to 1 day.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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