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Strawberry and Blueberry Tart with Lemon Curd
Adapted from recipe at Epicurious.com

Curd
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

Crust
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (or a mixture of AP and whole wheat pastry flour)
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons (or more) chilled whipping cream
1 large egg yolk

2 pints of small, ripe strawberries, stem ends trimmed
1 - 2 c. blueberries
1/2 cup lemon marmalade (or sub strawberry jam)

For curd: Whisk eggs, sugar, and lemon juice in heavy small saucepan to blend. Add butter and lemon peel. Stir over medium heat until curd thickens to pudding consistency, about 8 minutes. Transfer to small bowl. Press plastic wrap onto surface of curd and chill at least 2 hours.

For crust: Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl and stir to blend.  Add butter, and using either your hands or a pastry cutter, blend until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add whipping cream and egg yolk. Blend until moist clumps form, adding more cream by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap and chill 1 hour. (Curd and dough can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.)

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Transfer dough to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Trim overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold overhang in and press firmly, forming double-thick sides. Pierce crust all over with fork; refrigerate 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400°F. Bake crust until golden, pressing with back of fork if crust bubbles, about 20 minutes. Cool crust completely on rack.

Spread curd in crust. Stand berries in curd. Arrange blueberries between strawberries. Heat marmalade in a saucepan until thin.  Brush marmalade over berries. Chill tart until glaze sets, at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours. Release tart from pan

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I’ve always been one to focus more on the main course than dessert, hence, desserts have never been my specialty.  However, when summer comes around, fresh fruits, especially berries and stone fruit just *beg* to be made into something sugary and delicious — a delectable dessert, or perhaps a preserve

A couple weekends ago we had a get-together at our house that in theory should have had 5 attendees, but in reality had more like 17…  no worries though — my specialty is feeding people, even those who are unexpected…  I had prepared this tart as a dessert, expecting that I would take at least half of it to my co-workers on monday morning, but with everyone who showed up (unexpectedly), the tart was devoured and the plate licked clean before I had the chance to even consider saving any of it for later!

This tart (and pretty much all tarts for that matter) are great low-fuss desserts — they’re a wonderful way to showcase in-season fruit, they’re visually stunning, and more often than not, they’re very simple to make.  In addition, they can be partially to mostly made in advance, which is great if you’re like me and plan to make about 17 dishes when you really only have time to make 6.  With this one in particular, the crust and tart can be made 24-48 hours in advance, and the berries can be added anywhere from 1- 6 hours in advance (if you add them too far in advance they release too much liquid, they sink into the custard, and the tart becomes too liquid-y).

If you’re not fond of lemons or are just in the mood to experiment, I imagine you could make the curd with oranges instead, opening up a whole different world of flavor possibilities (I’m imagining chocolate in particular!).  Do you make tarts often?  What are your favorites?

Still Hungry?   Try one of these:

- Danish Braid with Nectarine and Strawberry Butter

- Pie Crust with Rendered Bacon Fat (aka Bacon Grease Pie Crust) (aka The Best Pie Crust Ever)

- Springtime Vegetable Tart with Peas, Asparagus, and Basil

- Flammkuchen (Onion, Bacon, and Creme Fraiche Tart)

- Wild Blueberry Muffins