tart

Berry Patriotic Pie (2 Ways!)

July 2, 2018

Here’s a last minute, super easy, and very patriotic dessert for you to bring to your 4th of July shindig (or shindigs if you are just that popular!).

A berry patriotic pie!

See what I did there?

I actually loved this so much, I made it twice. Once as a slab pie and once as individual mini pies. Both were extremely easy since I cut a lot of corners and used both premade pie dough and frozen berries.

Work smarter, not harder, people.

Some of you may scoff at my use of premade pie crust and frozen berries, but let me tell you, it in no way affected the taste of this pie. It was delish! But if you are one of those people who really loves to make things from scratch (trust me, I get it), by all means, make your own pie crust. I have an excellent recipe here.

So this post will be a little different. I am going to walk you through how I assembled the slab pie and the little mini pies (or tarts), but they are both the exact same recipe, which you will find at the end.

How to Make a Berry Patriotic Slab Pie

If you are making your own pie dough, do that first, then let the pie dough chill before rolling it out.

If you are using store-bought pie dough, combine both sheets of pie dough together, and roll it out so that it fits a rectangular baking sheet. I am using a small quarter sheet pan for this. You can also use a casserole dish or normal round pie dish.

For the slab pie, I went with an ombre effect. To do that, I first separated out each type of berry and arranged them from darkest to lightest. This is completely unnecessary, and you can instead mix all the berries together to make one delicious berry pie.

Mix all the berries with the sugar mixture, which consists of granulated sugar, corn start, and lemon zest.

If keeping the berries separate, mix a portion of the sugar mixture into each bowl of berries. I mixed in 3-4 tbsp for every cup of berries.

Then spoon the berries into the pie crust.

Use the extra dough to create a desired pattern on top. I went with stars and stripes which I created using a star-shaped cookie cutter and a pizza cutter.

The “rope” around the outside was created by taking long and skinny pieces of dough, pinching them together on both ends, then twisting until they looked like a rope. I made several of these to put around the edge.

Bake the pie at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then reduce and bake at 350 for another 30 – 40 minutes, or until the berries are bubbling and the pie crust is golden.

To ensure your pie crust doesn’t break off mid-bake, adhere the pieces to the bottom pie crust with a bit of an egg wash.

How to Make Berry Patriotic Mini Pies

Again, start with either homemade or store-bought pie dough. Roll out the pie dough into one big sheet and cut out circles about 1/2″ wider than the opening of the tart pan.

Press the dough into the bottom and along the sides of the tin.

Mix together the berries and sugar mixture.

For these mini pies, I combined the red berries together, and the “blue” berries together.

Spoon the berries into the pie shells and then top with the extra pie dough.

Similar to the slab pie, I cut out stars and stripes and placed stars on the “blue” pie and stripes on the “red” pie.

Brush the tops of the pie crust with an egg wash so they turn a nice golden brown color.

And, just like the slab pie, bake at 400 for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature, and bake at 350 for another 20 minutes. The mini pies bake much quicker.

So there you have it! Two ways to make a super cute and berry patriotic pie (or pies)! Who knew making a pie could be so easy?

Now, tell me the truth, which version is your favorite? I think I like the mini ones, personally…but maybe it’s because my slab pie just didn’t want to behave!

Supplies and Recipe

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Asparagus Prosciutto Tart

April 24, 2017

When asparagus is on sale at Trader Joe’s right before Easter you stock up and figure out what to do with it later. Oh, that’s not what you do? I guess it’s just me. I figured I could do a lot with asparagus, from adding it to an omelet or frittata to roasting it and serving along side some chicken or beef. I knew I would use it, I just didn’t quite now how.

After a quick inventory check of fridge and freezer, I realized I had everything I needed to make a savory asparagus prosciutto tart. The perfect Spring brunch dish!

Start by blanching the asparagus by dumping the trimmed asparagus in boiling water for a few minutes then transferring to an ice bath. The asparagus will turn bright green and be slightly tender.

Prepare the puff pastry by creating a 1/2 inch border and poking holes with the tines of a fork in the center then bake until it’s slightly golden.

While the puff pastry is puffing up in the oven, make the filling. Mix together marscarpone cheese, sour cream, and egg, shallot, lemon zest, parsley, and Parmesan cheese.

Take the puff pastry out of the oven and if you see that your puff pastry has been stubborn and puffed up even where you poked holes, press it down with the back of a spoon. Spread the marscarpone mixture into the cavity that you created, leaving the border untouched.

On top, add a thin layer of prosciutto. If you really like prosciutto, knock yourself out and add more than one thin layer. Top that with the asparagus and even more Parmesan, because this thing needs more cheese.

Once the puff pastry is nice and golden brown and the asparagus is tender and slightly roasted, it is done!

I topped mine with a little bit more lemon zest and parsley. And if you read last weeks post, you know I also topped this with some creamy hollandaise sauce! The perfect condiment to go with asparagus!

If you are an asparagus lover like me, then you will find absolutely no fault with this asparagus prosciutto tart. It was absolutely delicious and the perfect brunch for Easter! It would also be great for Mother’s Day!

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:152]

Winter Berry Cheesecake Tart

December 14, 2016

I have an quick and easy way to make any pie, tart, or cake look fancy:

Pile a bunch of berries on top!

That’s what makes this otherwise ordinary cheesecake tart much more sophisticated, let alone colorful! Even though berries are more of a Summer fruit, somehow they work perfectly for Winter when you roll cranberries in sugar to make them “frosty”. And with the addition of the mint leaves, it takes on a very Christmas-y look, don’t you think?

The foundation of this tart is a chocolate cookie crust. Sure, I could have made a plain old graham cracker crust, but chocolate seems so much more appropriate for the holidays. Plus, I am a sucker for chocolate and berries. It’s one of my favorite flavor combinations!

The next layer of the tart is my (aka my mom’s) classic cheesecake batter. Because this tart is much thinner than the New York style cheesecake that I usually make, I only made a third of my usual recipe.

What’s great about making cheesecake in a thin tart pan is that it bakes so much quicker. Cheesecake usually takes over an hour to bake. But this barely took 30 minutes. I made this just a few hours before I served it, which I would never do with my usual cheesecake recipe!

While the cheesecake baked, I worked on sugaring my berries (why does that sound dirty?). I have never sugared cranberries before, so I turned this really helpful post. Well, it would have been more helpful if I had followed direction. Of course, I like to think I know what I am doing all the time, but sometimes I really don’t. I skipped one pretty important step: letting the simple syrup dry before rolling them in the sugar. Whoops!

Then, once the tart had chilled and I had added a layer of sweetened sour cream, I just piled the raspberries and cranberries right on top. There wasn’t any rhyme or reason to it, clearly. But it still turned out so nice! I love the disorganized and rustic look of a pile of berries!

One slice of this tart is the perfect bite of chocolate crust, rich cheesecake, and fresh berries. All the flavors were there and complimented each other wonderfully! I also love the combination of the tart raspberries and crisp cranberries. Since the cranberries were soaked in simple syrup and rolled in sugar, they had a crunchy outer crust and were much sweeter than normal. They weren’t overly sweet, which made them a perfect pairing for the super sweet cheesecake!

You should probably make this cheesecake tart ASAP. It would be perfect for a holiday party. And you will want to make this while you can still easily get your hands on some fresh cranberries.

But, if you don’t want to make this now, you can make the same tart this Summer and pile on some strawberries, blueberries, or any one of your favorite fruits!

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:107]

Pretty Rosette Peach Tartlets

August 5, 2016

If you are looking for an impressive dessert you can bring to your Summer parties, I have got the recipe for you! Don’t let these little peach tartlets fool you, they are actually really easy to make and only require six ingredients.

Peaches

Puff Pastry

Mascarpone

Sugar

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

I’m sure it wasn’t the ingredient list that concerned you about this recipe. What you are probably thinking to yourself is, “there is no way I can make these look like a rosette!”. Ok, you may not be thinking that, but that’s what I was thinking. I was willing to give it a try, but was convinced that they would end up looking like crap.

Sure the first one wasn’t my best, but I got the hang of it really quickly!

I’ll show you exactly how I made them.

First, I sliced a couple peaches into very thin slices. Like, I sliced them just about as thin as I could. In hindsight, using a mandolin would have been a good idea to get consistently sliced peaches.

Next, I unfolded a puff pastry sheet and rolled it out so that it was pretty thin (it should be thinner than what you see in this picture). Then I cut it into 6 strips. I spread out the mascarpone mixture onto each strip.

Now comes the tricky part (hint: it’s not that tricky). To make the pretty rosette pattern with the peaches, I layered the peach slices one on top of the other along one half of the puff pastry strip making sure that a significant portion of the top of the peach was sticking out. On some of the tartlets, I added a second layer of peach slices just below the first. Not only did it help me use up all my peach slices, but the ratio of peach to puff pastry was much better.

Then I folded the other half of the puff pastry up and rolled the entire thing into a tight spiral. The trick to getting the peaches to roll is to put your thinner peach slices on the end that will be in the center and the thicker ones on the outside.

I placed each of the tartlets in a muffin tin then sprinkled some more sugar and nutmeg over the top of the peaches. All that was left to do was bake them and pray they still look like rosettes afterwards.

And once they were out of the oven I breathed out a big ol’ sigh of relief because they turned out super cute! Not to mention, they are delicious with a side of some vanilla ice cream!

Don’t they look like they just walked out of a bakery? You could totally impress your friends with these pastries, don’t you think?

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:63]

Farmer’s Market Tomato Tart

June 1, 2016

On a recent trip to my local farmers market I noticed that tomatoes were everywhere. They had all sots of colors, shapes, and sizes. It’s got to be tomato season, right? (a quick Google search confirms that tomato season here in the Carolinas is May through October). And even though I am a terrible food blogger for not knowing the appropriate seasons to buy produce, I do know when there is a good deal on heirloom tomatoes you snatch them up as quickly as possible. And then turn those tomatoes into a delicious and colorful tomato tart.

These were the tomatoes that I picked up. I mean, aren’t they pretty? I was actually sad that I had to cut them up…but only until I tasted a slice and it was so juicy and delicious! I really love tomatoes. I know they aren’t everyone’s favorite, which doesn’t totally make sense to me, but to each their own. They are just missing out!

The first thing you have to do when you are baking with tomatoes is let them drain. They are some slippery little suckers (name the movie!) and I didn’t want them to make my tart all soggy. So I placed the slices of tomato on some paper towels to drain until the tart was ready to be prepped.

To assemble the tart, I started with some refrigerated pie crust. You are more than welcome to make your own, but I know my strengths and pie crust is not one of them. Then topped that with some caramelized onion, Gruyere cheese, then those lovely tomatoes, and then topped with some extra Parmesan cheese and thyme.

Of course all the ingredients probably sound pretty similar to a pizza, so it would be no surprise that this tastes a lot like a pizza, but so much more “French” (as I mentioned on Snapchat). It also tastes so fresh and light, it was a perfect summer lunch.

When I make this again (because it’s not a matter of if) I will definitely serve it a long side a big Summer salad filled with lots of veggies. I would also make this again for a brunch or in mini form for a baby or bridal shower. It is sure to be a hit (unless you are friends with those pesky tomato haters)!

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:37]

Margarita Tart

April 28, 2014

I don’t know what it says about me to turn a drink into a dessert….or make my dessert alcoholic, so let’s not read too much into it, okay?

This tart is essentially just like any other lime tart with a few extra ingredients. How do you turn lime juice into a margarita? Tequila, triple sec, and salt.

To get that hint of salt, I added pretzels to the crust by processing both graham crackers and pretzels, then adding in melted butter. If that sounds delicious on its own, let me tell you, it is. I may or may not have eaten the leftover crust out of the bowl with a spoon. By itself.

The filling is essentially a margarita with condensed milk and egg yolks to make a curd. If you have the extra limes, you might as well use them to make yourself a real margarita.

If you are worried about serving this dessert to kids, the alcohol does cook out, however you could forgo the tequila completely and add in orange juice instead of triple sec to get the same effect.

I will definitely be making this again this summer. It’s tart with a hint of sweetness, plus you that little bite from the tequila followed by the saltiness from the crust. Just like your favorite margarita.

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