This blueberry tart is like one last hoo-rah before the summer ends.
Starting tomorrow I will be immersed in apple slices and peanut butter sandwiches, early morning rushing and mountains of paperwork. Ohhhhh the paperwork.
New spiral notebooks, freshly sharpened pencils, 4,872 glue sticks, and that waxy smell that could only come from a brand new box of Crayola crayons. Pair all of that new school year awesomeness with the kids’ excitement to see old friends and make new ones, while they eagerly set goals and prepare for a great start.
Tomorrow marks the beginning of sneakers with socks (not for me, though), reliable daily schedules, and early bedtimes. It will be the first day of homework charts and reading reminders, after school snacks and early suppers.
First thing in the morning, it will be the first day of school.
But for right now, you could do yourself this one last summery favor and use up all those blueberries you were gonna add to your morning oatmeal. Skip the muffins and pancakes , just this once, and dump all the blueberries into a pie crust, sprinkle them with sugar, drizzle them with honey, dot them with butter, fold the edges in the most haphazard way (we call that rustic. Rustic is kitchen code for that ugly/pretty thing Tyra always tells the girls to do on Top Model. Yes. I just went there.), and bake that mess. You won’t be sorry.
You can make this dough, a Tuesdays with Dorie, Baking with Julia recipe I was thrilled to find because it’s super simple and fresh and easy AND I had everything I needed to make it already, BUT if you really really really really wanna have this Rustic Blueberry Tart in say… 45 minutes? Use refrigerated pie crust.
But if you have a couple hours to wait, or, say, you wanted to bake all your blueberries tomorrow, I’ll tell you that this dough is both tasty and user-friendly. And the cornmeal makes it sorta special.
Powdered sugar also makes this dessert special. So I had me some a that.
This recipe comes from Baking with Julia, by Dorie Greenspan.
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- ⅓ cup ice water
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup yellow cornmeal
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 refrigerated disc of the dough from the ingredients listed above OR any refrigerated pie crust
- flour for dusting the work surface and your hands
- 1½ cups fresh blueberries (or and fruit you like: peaches, strawberries, nectarines, blackberries… or mix ‘em up)
- 2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into little squares
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- about a tablespoon of honey for drizzling
- powdered sugar for dusting the finished tart before serving
- Stir together the sour cream and ice water. Set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt. Drop in the butter pieces and work them into the flour mixture. I used my hands.
- When the consistency is coarse and crumbly (described in the original recipe as varying between bread crumb-sized and pea-sized), add the sour cream mixture a little at a time until the dough is a consistency you like.
- Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a disc, then wrap each disc tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least two hours.
- Dough can be kept in the fridge for a couple of days if you’re making it ahead of time, or frozen for up to a month. Thaw frozen dough in the refrigerator.
- Pre-heat the oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Flour your work surface and press or roll out your dough into an 11 inch-ish circle that’s about ⅛ of an inch thick. This is rustic. It doesn’t have to be exact, or pretty. If you are using the dough in the recipe above, it is SOFT, so lift it occasionally and toss more flour underneath. Transfer the dough to the baking sheet.
- Dump the blueberries on top, in the center of the dough, leaving a couple of inches all the way around.
- Dot the little squares of butter evenly across the berries. Sprinkle with the tablespoon of sugar, and then drizzle with the honey.
- Fold the uncovered border of the dough over the filling, allowing the dough to pleat as you lift it up and work your way around. Brush the exposed edges of crust with water and then sprinkle with the remaining teaspoon of sugar.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the dough is pretty crisp and golden brown.
- Let it cool slightly and dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Oh I love cornmeal crusts. I was just thinking the other day, how my mama always made a cornmeal crust for pecan pie. We actually used to call them cornmeal pies.
Psssh! Cornmeal crusted pecan pie?!!! I’m pretty sure that this is a formal request for a post on that.
The Top Model reference…where to I start? Hysterical. I love it. So, so true.
We’ve been in school for 2 weeks around here. Still trying to get my lazy kid back to her schedule. It’s been a pain in the you know what.
I wish someone would make me such a “rustic” tart. It would make Monday THAT much easier.
Hope you had a great weekend Heather.
I love me some Top Model. I don’t know why i find Tyra so fascinating. I absolutely adored her talk show when she’d put on her serious face and ask some crazy question that made no sense. Pretty much my favorite.
We are 3 days in to the school schedule, and while my children seem to be just fine, I am increasingly annoyed by the revolving list of supply requests that keep coming home from school. There are only just so many times in my life that I’m willing to go to Wal-Mart. I think I’ve used most of them up in the last 4 days.
What a beautiful tart my friend
Love the addition of cornmeal!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks!
I want you to know I read your post this morning in the carpool line. I had my requisite large cup of steaming hot coffee (first day of school after all) and I was craving a bit of this rustic blueberry tart. It sounds and looks wonderful!
I’m encouraged that you said it was easy. I need “easy” when it comes to making pie crusts (or tart crusts)!
Allison
Hey, Allison! Ohhh carpool. Last year my littlest one decided halfway through that he wanted to be a big boy and ride the bus. No More Carpool! I never minded the mornings but the afternoons drove me nuts. This dough really was easy. I love that I could press it out with my fingers and not feel totally inept when my crust looks like total garbage. It’s rustic! It’s s’posed to look crazy!
Hope the boys first day back to school went well!!! With that blueberry send off I’m sure going back was a little bit sweeter!!! I love all things blueberry…mmm blueberries!!! I think I will make jam this week haha Spread that on some yogurt and pretend its’ your yummy tartness hahahahaha
Their first day of school was great!! They are so cute. If jam on yogurt works for you, girl, then WORK IT. I think I’d need my jam on toast. Or a whole wheat wrap with light cream cheese so I could pretend it was a pastry. Yesssss. It’s official. I’m doing that.
haha It’s not like ‘jam jam’ its just fruit, no sugar. It’s not as fun of course but it’s delicious!! Glad they had a great first day!!
This looks so delish and also so pretty!
I love the fact that this recipe is so easy and fast to put together! It looks so pretty too. I’m thinking of making an apple version soon