When speaking of tarte in western dessert, I’m afraid that the French people would be the number one no matter on patterns or tastes. In French cities, for southern parts or northern parts, you can see everything breads from French sticks to croissant in bread shops, and you would surely see the tarte in there. Common bread shops sell apple tart, blueberry tart or dark chocolate tart. And when you go in to senior bread shops, it is impossible to sell ordinary tarts. There is no guest would buy the same looking apple tart as those in nearby bread shops close to home in famous bread shops with a cost three times expensive than the nearby’s. Therefore, those famous dessert chefs would focus on the specialty, treasury and rarity of the ingredients when refers to their hand made tarts. Take it for example, dessert shop of Pierrre Herme in fifteen district in Paris, their limited super star dessert is the unique Tarte Azur in autumn of every year, which means Japanese pomelo dark chocolate tart. Let alone how difficult to get the Japanese pomelo in Europe, the development of combing Japanese pomelo with dark chocolate would cost so many labors and so much time, in order to make the two become harmony, and that is beyond ordinary bread shops’ imagination.

So, is there any tart that sells both in ordinary bread shops and senior bread shops? There is one. Berry tart. In ordinary bread shops, they would use raspberries to make berry tart, for the price of raspberry is moderate, and it appears in general open markets or supermarkets. However, in senior bread shops, they would add more rare wild berries besides of raspberries for the sake of particularity, such as Fraise des bois or Groseille. Then why they all make berry tarts? Because the French women like the most.

You can see various French beauties, such as type of arts, foxy women, ladies…They always wear high-heels,with red berry tarts on their hands, and then they would bite with the tart by opening their delicate red lips in cold weather…

To make the berry tart, I always use Pate sablee as the tart skin, in the making of Pate sablee, a large quantity of butter and caster sugar are needed, and I would always add a teaspoon baking powder in making the tart skin, for the sake of crisp. And this time I use la creme d’ amende<almond jam> too. The advantage of la creme d’ amende is abundant taste in mouth, that would be great to eat with various of berries.

Berry tart

For the Pate sablee:

Flour 150g
Butter 70g<softened>
Caster sugar 50g
Egg 1
Baking powder 1 teaspoon

For the almond jam:

Almond powder 80g
Butter 50g
Eggs 2
Caster sugar 60g
Kirsch 1 tablespoon<or rum>

For the berries:

Red currents 150g
Raspberries 250g

For the topping:

Raspberry jam 100g

<those ingredients above are for 8 little raspberry tarts or a big 24cm round tart>

1.Pour the flour, baking powder and caster sugar into a big bowl, add softened butter, break butter into segments with your hands, add eggs, rub with your hands, and cover it with plastic bag, put it into the fridge for at least 1 hour
2.Take out the tart skin before baking. Brush a layer of butter in eight round pie mould with 7cm diameter, press the tart skin into the mould, stick many little holes with a fork, put it into the fridge and refrigerate for 30 minutes
3.Heat oven to 356F. Whisk the softened butter and caster sugar in ingredients of almond jam, add almond powder and mix well, add eggs one by one, each time mix well, finally add the Kirsch
4.Take out the tart skin form the fridge, lay evenly the almond jam, 356F, bake for 12-15 minutes, until the almond jam is golden and brown
5.Pour raspberry jam into a little pan, add 1 tablespoon water, melt it with medium heat
6.Let cool of the tart, then demould. Brush the raspberry jellies on the surface of the tart, decorate it with rad currents and raspberries, and brush the rest jellies on the fruits.

Gourmet has no boundaries, no matter which nationality you are, French women or Japanese women, superwomen or little lady, you will fall in deep love with the berry tart. You can have a try.