Tart-Making Tips + A Flag Tart

Voila, a Fourth of July flag tart!

When people learn that I’ve been to pastry school, they often ask “what do you like to make the most?” Nothing — is what I usually say. I’m inspired by what’s in season. (Talk about a snooze answer. Sorry, it’s the truth!) Recently though, I’ve been making a lot of tarts, so I’ve put together my tips for tart success, plus specific notes for the flag tart shown above.

Alana Kysar leveling the pastry cream on my tart while I shoot

 

JENN’S TART-MAKING TIPS

CRUST: The sole reason I pick a tart over a pie is the crust. The former has a shortbread cookie texture, and the latter has a flaky texture and not enough substance in my opinion. What can I say, I like it rich and buttery.

Another great thing about tart dough is no blind baking! I line the pan with dough, dock all along the bottom and freeze overnight. This really helps maintain the shape of the tart while baking and prevent shrinking. It will still shrink about 10% but it’s not too noticeable.

When baking, I set the timer at the halfway point to rotate the pan and check for any puffiness along the bottom of the tart and dock as needed. Then I put it back in to bake until golden brown.

Recipe Recommendation: Basic Tart Dough

FILLING: Endless possibilities when it comes to filling a tart. My favorite fillings are lemon curd and pastry cream. I have tried many different versions and as I mentioned above, I like things rich, which means I’m looking for recipes that call for just egg yolks rather than the whole eggs.

I fill the tarts just before serving to ensure the crust remains crisp, but you can do this step 3-4 hours ahead.

Recipe Recommendations: Lemon Curd / Pastry Cream

 

FLAG TART

My tart was inspired by Martha Stewart’s American Flag Tart. I wanted to make it in one pan and luckily Williams-Sonoma carries a rectangle pan that works perfectly.
Ingredients:

Basic Tart Dough
Pastry Cream
1 pint blueberries
2-3 pints raspberries
Powdered sugar for dusting

Rectangular Tart Pan

Notes:

I laid out all the berries in the tart pan just to see make sure I had enough. I used exactly 2 pints of raspberries for the tart but you may want to have an extra pint so you have more berries to choose from when picking ones that are the same size.

The raspberries will absorb the powdered sugar after 2-3 hours so don’t assemble any later than that.

 

Berries in motion

 

Happy Fourth!

Many thanks to Alana of Fix Feast Flair for her help with this project!