less is more — an apple tart

Less is more.

The phrase, popularized by the architect, Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe, came to mind when I ate the apple tart. Simplicity, bare essentials, beauty, and clarity— these are words that apply both to his philosophy of design and this dessert.

cherry clafoutis tart {sms}

Oh my, it's been a very long time since I've participated with my Sweet Melissa Baking Group. I've been MIA since Thanksgiving! I have not forgotten about you guys, I've just been disorganized with all my baking projects and worse, facing some health issues. (Read: less baking/blogging, supposedly more exercising. Believe me, I'd rather be doing the former.) All overwhelming, but this past week, I had some clarity and actually looked ahead to the baking assignments.  I could not pass it up— a buttery tart crust with a creamy custard filling with sweet cherries.

A traditional clafoutis (pronounced klah-foo-tee, and try saying that five times fast!) would involve a little flour combined with the milk/cream/eggs mixture. The cherries would be enrobed in a pudding/flan like pancake batter. Melissa Murphy puts her spin on it by putting the fruit and flan into a tart shell. I'm curious how this will turn out.

blueberry almond streusel tart

Blueberries are overrunning the refrigerator.  Between the Costco-sized container and The Dad's twice-weekly drop-off, I needed to bake up a recipe that would use the fruit before it starts deteriorating.

This recipe is an old favorite; I jotted it down from Bon Appétit in 1992, which must be the same year I purchased the tart pans. They called it Blueberry Streusel Tart; I added "almond" to the title. I've tweaked three things: changing the ratio of butter to shortening, adding a little almond extract to enhance the nut flavor, and pre-baking the tart crust to ensure a crisp texture.

Blueberry Almond Tart

adapted from Bon Appétit, July 1992

Crust

1½ cups flour

3 tablespoons sugar

pinch of salt

8 tablespoons butter, cut in ½-inch pieces and chilled

4 tablespoons chilled vegetable shortening

about 6 tablespoons ice water

Filling

1½ cups blanched and slivered almonds

¾ cup sugar

½ cup butter, room temperature

1 tablespoon flour

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon almond extract

Topping

6 tablespoons flour

6 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3 tablespoons butter, cut into ½-inch pieces

3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and drained

For the Crust:

Blend the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor.  Add the butter and the shortening and cut in with the pulse button until the mixture looks like coarse meal.  Blend in the water 1 tablespoon at a time, enough to bind the dough.  Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour, or up to one day ahead.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.  Roll out the dough to 13 inches.  Transfer the dough to an 11-inch tart pan, with removable bottom.  Bake the crust for 10 minutes, until it has lost the raw look but is not brown.  If the crust has puffed a bit, gently pat it down with an oven mitt.

For the Filling:

Finely grind the almonds with sugar in the processor.  Add the butter, egg, flour, vanilla and almond extracts.  Blend well.

For the Topping:

Mix the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.  Add the butter using your fingertips.

Ladle the filling into the pre-baked crust.  Smooth it out.  Top the filling with blueberries; sprinkle the topping over the fruit.  

Place the tart on a cookie sheet and bake until the crust is golden and the filling is set, about an hour.