A Trio of Miniature Fresh Berry Tarts

It's time for treats on Tuesdays with Dorie again. Each Tuesday, we whip up some fun in the kitchen with fabulous fare from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking: From My Home to Yours." Buy the book, join in and bake along! You'll be making bakery fare at home and saving your pennies!

How fortunate that this week's treat was just the ticket for a fabulous Father's Day dessert. What economy! This berry tart was inspired by a Frenchie bakery's famous strawberry tart. Traditionally, the fresh uncooked berries are tucked into a full sized sweet crust and topped with creme fraiche. Since we are a piddly little family of four, I halved the recipe and baked three small tarts in 8 ounce ramekins. I also played around with the berries, since I happened to have not only strawberries, but also blueberries and blackberries on hand. I loved them all, but the one that made my heart pitter-patter was the blackberry. Making the crust is really a snap, especially since it requires no rolling, just a light handed patting of the crust into its buttered baking dish. Mine were ragged and rustic and good enough to eat plain. (I was picking at that blackberry one. I hoped you wouldn't notice.) If you still don't feel comfortable making pastry from scratch, simply press circles of refrigerated pie crust into your preferred size baking dish, brush with butter and sprinkle with sugar before baking. I won't tell, I promise.

Miniature Fresh Berry Tarts

Adapted From Dorie Greenspan

Estimated Cost: $4.00

Notes: Double this for enough to fit a 9 inch tart pan. You can make this in a food processor, but I did it by hand.

3/4 cup flour

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter, frozen, cut into small pieces

1 large cold egg yolk

about 3 tablespoons jam of your choice

about 2 cups berries of choice

granulated sugar

creme fraiche, whipped cream, or vanilla yogurt

In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter (with a pie cutter or two butter knives) until mixture is mealy, and some pieces are the size of peas and others the size of oatmeal. Cut in the yolk and mix with a fork, gathering mixture up into ball. Press into 3 (8 ounces) buttered ramekins. Place in freezer until cold and solid, at least 30 minutes or up to a few days ahead. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter small squares of foil and press into pie dish to fit tightly onto crust. Bake for 15 minutes and remove foil. Bake for another 5-10 minutes, or until crust is lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.

JUST BEFORE SERVING...

Brush inside of tarts with jam. Scoop in berries. Sprinkle with sugar, if desired. Top with creme fraiche, whipped cream or yogurt.

Coming Tomorrow:

Make Ahead-Horseradish Thyme Compote

(For the Grilled Rib-Eye)

and Cheesy Parmesan Bread