To minimize this, freezing is important to help the tart hold its shape. Naturally, when a crust bakes, some of the water from the butter evaporates and thus the crust shrinks a bit. Since we are not baking our filling, we are going to bake the crust to ensure that it’s nice and crisp before adding the custard. After putting the dough together and pressing it into the tart pan, the freezing part is really important. Basically we are making a slightly less sweet sugar cookie and using that for our crust (delicious, right?). A pâté sucrée is a sweeter pastry dough that is traditionally used for tarts. The crust is fairly easy to put together and much less difficult than a pie crust. This ensures a velvet texture without even the slightest hint of chalkiness or grit. I find that the best method is to cook the custard over medium heat until very thick and then reduce the heat to very low and cook for another 5-7 minutes. In a pastry cream, if you simmer it too hard your egg yolks will scramble and the whole thing will be a mess anyway. In other recipes that call for cornstarch, most of the time you boil or simmer the sauce thus effectively cooking out the graininess of the starch. The really important part is to cook the custard long enough to cook the cornstarch. The best piece of advice I can give someone working within the more technical aspects of cooking is to take your time and follow the steps. Sometimes I try to rush the process and end up with something that I end up throwing in the garbage. A grainy or gritty pastry cream is enough to make me lose my shit especially since I have made pastry creams and custards more times than I can count. When a dessert only has 3 simple components, there is very little to hide behind if one of the components goes amiss. Though this tart is exceedingly simple, in my opinion it’s often in simple dishes that there is very little room for error. Strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, mango, peaches, nectarines. However, this tart would be lovely with any fruit that your heart desires. Perfect for balancing out the sweetness of the custard. These were truly the perfect berries–sweet and firm with just a hint of acidity and tartness. I went to the farmer’s market over the weekend and decided to take advantage of the last berries of the season (it has been extraordinarily hot in Texas this summer). But there is something glorious about a buttery, sweet tart crust, velvety custard and fresh fruit. I love the bells and whistles of over-the-top sweets at times, don’t get me wrong.
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