Well today, my cookbook died. It has been long in the tooth for sometime. The pages are worn and some stuck together from spilled extracts or remnants of frosting that jumps from the bowl as it gets mixed. But today it fell from its home on top of the fridge and shattered. I know. I know. It's a book. How can it
shatter? But it did. It hit the ground and nearly every page went splashing out all over the kitchen. So sad. See?
Luckily all the pages are still there and readable. But still, I am sad. My very sweet husband looked up the book to see if he could get me another copy (What a sweet guy! I am so lucky.). I told him no. There is something about this one, this copy. This book that I bought over a decade ago when my cooking skills were in their infancy. Something about my 19 year old self thumbing through this book and thinking of all the dinner parties I would have someday and treats I would make for my future husband and children.
I do not remember the exact day I bought this book, but I do remember wanting to fill my house with the kind of yummy food that invites sense memories and begs to become tradition. Somehow I thought that filling my kitchen with cookbooks could do that for me. What can I say? I was young.
Funny enough, I rarely use cookbooks now. Recipes at all for that matter. When I do they are more like guidelines or suggestions. I have gotten rid of most of my cookbooks as a result. But not this one. Many of the recipes in this cookbook (and a few rare other recipes) have been so good that there is no need to change them. In fact changing them at all would be a terrible injustice.
Maybe one day I'll want to get another copy. But not today. Today I will go through this old book page by page and tape it back together. Remember the times I've made the treats contained in its pages and look forward to the next time I bring it out with my Kitchen-aid.
For those of you that are curious enough to find this book here's a link to Amazon's page for the book.
For those of you that just want a really good recipe, here's the Fresh Berry Tart from page 248 (Yes this post was originally about brownies, but apparently I posted about that recipe already. You can find it HERE.) But don't worry, this Cream Tart is faint-in-your-chair good. I have never had anyone eat just one piece. Ever. Try it and you will know what Heaven in a pastry crust is like.
Please note: This is not a make in advance dessert. After more than 3 hours the cream seeps and the sugar absorbs into the berries. It still tastes AMAZING, but leaves something to be desired for looks.
For the crust:
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 TBS COLD butter cut up (no margarine! Only real. life. butter.)
1 large egg yolk
1/4 cup cold water
Mix together the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl or a food processor. Add butter and pulse until the butter is cut in and resembles coarse crumbs (you can also do this with knives or a pastry blender, but using a food processor is so much easier. Don;t use a blender though. It doesn't work. Trust me. I know.) Beat yolk and water together and add to butter/flour mixture. Pulse again until the dough just forms a ball. Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least an hour or overnight. (Now you can cheat a little here and put it in the freezer for 15-20 mins if you are in a rush. But if you do so, make sure your dish is pretty thin. This is not ideal, but life happens! The idea is that the dough needs to get cold so it doesn't get greasy.)
Once out of the fridge, let it sit on the counter for about 5 mins and then roll into a 14" circle on a floured surface turning often to prevent sticking. If the dough becomes too soft, put it back in the fridge to firm up. Place in a tart pan with a removable bottom and form to edges. A really easy way o do this is to run the rolling pin over the top of the tart pan. It will cut the dough right along the scalloped edges! So easy. Ifyour dough cracks, press it back together gently. Refrigerate or freeze for 15 mins. Then prick all over the bottom. Line the tart shell with foil, fill with dry beans or pie weights and bake for 20 mins at 375. Then remove weights and foil and bake additional 7-10 mins or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool.
For the creme filling:
3 large egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 TBS cornstarch
1 cup milk
2 TBS butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups each of blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. ( I have also used: peaches, nectarines, and blackberries.
powdered sugar for dusting
Make sure tart crust is baked and cooled. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks and granulated sugar with a wire whisk until blended. Stir in cornstarch and mix until smooth. in a 2 qt saucepan heat milk over medium heat until simmering. While constantly beating with a wire whisk pour about 1/2 the milk into the egg yolk mixture. Then pour the egg-yolk mixture back into the pan and whisk constantly until it has thickened and boiled. Reduce heat and cook while stirring for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Transfer to a bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly in the surface of the pastry cream. This will prevent a nasty skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold about 2 hours, at least.
Up to 2 hours before serving, beat heavy cream until stiff. Whisk pastry cream until smooth and fold in whipped cream. Spoon pastry cream mixture into tart shell and top with berries. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
:)
For the record, you may want to make 2. One for your guests and one for you to eat while hiding in a closet away from everyone else.
