Blueberry And Vanilla Custard Tart

1 1/4 cup wheat flour ( high grade white flour)

1/2 cup almond flour

1/4 cold butter (higher fat percentage is more preferable (i use 82,5%)

1 1/2 tbsp caster sugar 

1 egg

zest of 1 lemon finely grated ( optional)

3/4 tsp salt

2 cups milk (3.2% fat)

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup wheat flour ( high grade white flour)

2 1/2 tbsp corn starch

1 vanilla pod 

 

 

5-6 cups of blueberries ( it's always better to buy a bit more berries so you can choose from them)

Neutral confectionery glaze (gel for covering cakes) or just sprinkle tart with sugar powder.

 

or you can make a jelly:

 

juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup of water

2 tablespoons honey (without strong flavor)

7 g (1/4 oz) gelatin sheet

 

 

 

 

1) Process flour, butter and a pinch of salt in a food processor until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add almond flour, sugar and lemon zest and turn on food processor for a few seconds in order to mix everything thoroughly.

 

2) Whisk egg  in a bowl, then with food processor motor running, add to flour mixture. If you see that mixture is too dry, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of cold water of heavy cream. Process until mixture begins to form large clumps, stopping machine before mixture forms a ball.

 

3) Turn pastry out on to a work surface and knead gently to bring together. Form into a disc for a round tart or into a log shape for a rectangular tart. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 min-1 hour. 

 

4) Remove the dough from the fridge. Roll it on a floured surface, until around 3mm thick. Line the prepared pan with the rolled dough. Leave a tiny overhang of dough. Use a small kitchen knife to trim the excess and to score the tops of the tart. Freeze it for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 175C (350F). Put a heat-resisting plastic wrap of foil, pour over rice of beans and bake for 20 minutes then remove foil\wrap with beans and bake for more 20 minutes. Dough should have appetizing golden color. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

 

5)To prepare pastry cream, cook milk and vanilla ( seeds and pot) in a saucepan over medium heat to bring the mixture just to a boil. Stir occasionally. While the milk is cooking, in a bowl whisk together egg yolks and sugar until the mixture becomes pale. Add cornstarch and flour, mix until smooth.

Slowly add 1/3 of milk mixture to egg mixture, whisking continuously. Pour the milk-egg mixture back to the saucepan. Cook over very low heat and whisk continuously until the custard is thickened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Don't bring it to a boil!  Remove from heat. Pour the custard through the sieve and into a bowl to make it super smooth.

Let cool for 15 minutes. Put a plastic wrap right on top of the cream to prevent skin forming. Let it cool completely. Then spoon pasty cream in the tart shell.  You can use hand blender for cream before tart assembling if you see that texture is not very smooth

6) Top with fresh berries and refrigerate 1-2 hours. Actually if you see that cream is already set and stable you can cover it with jelly earlier

 

7) Warm neutral glaze in the microwave oven ( don't bring it to boil), it should be liquid but not very hot. With confectionery brush glaze berries. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight. 

 

8) To make jelly, soak gelatin sheet in cold water for 15-20 min, mix lemon juice, water and honey in a saucepan, bring it to boil over medium heat, add gelatin sheet, stir until gelatin is fully dissolved. Let it cool completely ( room temperature) and cover berries with it. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight.