Fresh Cherry Tart

This was not as lovely as I wanted. I had such high hopes for this endeavor.The crust wasn’t as tasty as I had wanted. I shouldn’t have been lazy and used a box of gingersnaps. The crème wasn’t as firm as I expected it to be and the flavor of the cherries, not as present


So, now that I have told you everything I disliked about this let me tell you why I made it. I had a bag of cherries and a have habit of making things with fruit rather than just eating the fruit by it self. My mind filled with possibilities. I could make a cake layer with crème and fruit, roll out some puff pastry or even better yet filo and make some sort of Danish, I settled on making a cherry tart. I chose to add orange zest to the pastry crème (from the pate a chou post), use a ginger snap crust and top it with the aforementioned fresh cherries.


All the various components can be prepared ahead and assembled the day of, which I would recommend. It looks best the day of.


First- you have to make the Pastry Cream first. It needs to chill over night


Pastry Crème.


o 2 Cups Whole milk


o ½ half vanilla bean


o 6 Eggs Yolks


o 1 Tablespoon butter- good quality


o ½ Cup flour


o 1 Cup Sugar


o Zest of one orange


Begin by putting the milk and vanilla bean in a pan and put it on medium heat.


In a heavy pan whisk together everything else. Paying close attention to not burn the milk, bring it to a boil. Then temper into the egg mixture. Over medium heat brings this to a boil, stirring constantly. For the last few minutes I used a whisk but the rest of the time I used a silicone spatula. After it had thickened, pass the crème through a sieve into a bowl and chill.













Crust- can be made ahead as well.


o 8 ox of ginger snaps.


o 8 tablespoons of butter, soft


o 1 tablespoon of molasses


o 2tabelspoons ground flax seed


o ¾ cup pecans.


Put all ingredients into a food processor and process until it’s a consistency you like. I process mine until its quite finely ground and has the consistency of damp sand. Turn the mixture into a tart pan and spread evenly. Then using the bottom of a cup, press it all down and into the corners. Place in freezer or fringe to chill for 30 minutes.






Fresh cherries -Just cherries, cut in half and pitted… This is also a do-ahead task.








To Assemble:


Pull the crust from the fridge, Fill it with how ever much of the pastry cream you want, then arrange the cherries on top in a manner that pleases you. At this point you can eat it, chill it, or glaze it. It. If you choose to glaze, see below.






















Glaze-


o 2 tablespoons apricot preserves


o Juice of one orange


o 2 teaspoons honey


o 2 teaspoons corn starch.


Mix it all in a small pan until it thickens. Brush on to tart.