Mission, Dessert.

I am not a baker. In fact, baking is a part of cooking I avoid in most cases. I am probably beating a dead horse here, but when I cook I take all sorts of creative license with the recipe. "Creative license" is not advised when baking, therefore I shun it. 

As I mentioned in the post above, I did have extra puff pastry and those berries in the fridge needed to be used before they turned. A lightbulb went off! I was going to make a rustic tart for dessert. 

After a few minutes of research I found a recipe I thought I could adjust to my needs. Thanks to Epicurious.com for the "Strawberry-Lemon Curd Tart" recipe I "followed." We wouldn't want to break tradition, so let the adjustments follow. 

First, the recipe calls for homemade lemon curd and pastry dough. No, no, no, after a long day of work I was not in the mood to make either. I used the leftover puff pastry dough and a jar of Meyer Lemon Curd from my local Harris Teeter. (I'm sure your local grocery will have one too in the jam/jelly section.)

After rolling out the puff pastry I chose to assemble the tarts in fluted ramekins which I normally reserve for creme brulees.  Yet another use for those dishes I just had to have. Bake according to the instructions listed in the recipe and let cool. 

While the pastries are cooling, I took one pint of both blueberries and blackberries and dumped them into saucepan. Add about 1/8 cup of water and sugar and turn the heat to medium-low. I used ultra-fine caster sugar, but granulated will work just as well. Note, the cooking time and sugar measurements will vary based on the berries used. After the berries have cooked down into a "jam" of sorts let them cool until you're ready for assembly.

This is the easy part. Open the jar of lemon curd, or if you're an overachiever at this point pull your curd out of the refrigerator, and spread a 1/4 inch thick layer on the bottom of the tart. Next, take a heaping spoonful of the berry jam and spread it atop the lemon curd. If you choose not to finish with whipped cream, you're done otherwise...

Listen very closely to this tip, I am lazy but I never use canned whipped cream. It doesn't taste like anything! All you need for homemade whipped cream is: heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, a chilled bowl and  either a mixer or whisk. 

Place a glass bowl, or quart measuring cup (this is generally what I use because its huge) in the freezer for about five minutes. After removing the bowl pour in approximately 1/3 cup of heavy cream, a capful of good quality vanilla extract and two tablespoons of sugar. Now get that hand mixer of whisk and go at it until you get soft peaks. Voila, you have just made homemade whipped cream! 

Dollop a heavy spoonful of whipped cream on the top of your tart and you are ready to dig in!