Berry good...with chocolate

I had every intention of getting this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe and post done early.  Then life got in the way.  My older daughter, Brianna, has been sick since last Thursday (with what we think its strep--what fun).  So the past four or five days have mostly been spent tending to her and juggling schedules with my husband.  The funny thing is, the only reason I managed to get this done at this point is because I ended up staying home from work again today.  Otherwise, I'd be lucky to get this posted by this weekend... =)  

This week's lovely selection comes from Cooking with Cristine.  It's hard to believe that there are still people who joined the group almost two years ago are just now getting to choose recipes.  Just like it seems crazy that I've been doing this for over two years.  Cristine made a great seasonal pick, with the Quick Classic Berry Tart.  A number of people questioned the "quick" part of this recipe.  Once you have the components ready, the assembly of the tart does go quickly.  But it does take some time to get everything ready.  Fortunately (especially for me, the way the past several days have been), different parts can be made ahead of time.  The tart consists of a buttery, crisp tart shell, some pastry cream, seasonal fresh fruit, and a glaze.

I could tell that Brianna was feeling at least a little better when she showed some interest in the tart.  Once I described to her what I was making, she only had one question--"Can you make the filling chocolate instead of vanilla?"  Since that was the first food-related request she'd made in several days, I decided to go with it.  I knew the extra pastry cream wouldn't go to waste. =)  One advantage of the chocolate cream is that it uses only 4 egg yolks, rather than 6, since the chocolate thickens it as well.  I already have way too many egg whites in my freezer, and will have more now that we're getting into serious ice cream season.  (I need to make something to use some of them up!)

I've made Dorie's pastry creams a number of times, so it didn't take me long to get this one done.  I made it Monday night, and put it in the fridge to chill overnight.  (with plastic wrap on the surface--I hate skin on top of things!)  My original plan was to try to get the tart crust baked before work this morning.  But then I ended up staying home with B again, so I didn't have as much time pressure as I expected.  I mixed up the dough in the food processor, patted it into my new rectangular tart pan (more about that in another post), and stuck it in the freezer while we took Gillian to daycare.  When we got back, I baked it, letting it get a nice, dark golden brown.  Then this afternoon, I assembled the whole thing.  I put the pastry cream in the tart shell and topped it with whole raspberries and quartered strawberries.  Actually, B did the strawberries--she's definitely feeling better than she was.  (and isn't contagious anymore after four days of antibiotics)  Then I glazed it with some raspberry jam that I heated in the microwave and thinned with a bit of water.

The verdict?  Well, the different parts are certainly good.  We've had the tart crust a number of times, and love it.  And anything resembling chocolate pudding is always popular in this household. =)  Plus how can you go wrong with fresh strawberries and raspberries?  As for all together, it's very good. Gillian gave it two thumbs up--"Mommy, this is so good!" Brianna wasn't as enthusiastic about the crust, but loved the pastry cream and fruit.  I liked the whole thing, with the different flavors and textures.  I love chocolate with both raspberry and strawberry.

If you'd like to try this one for yourself, Cristine has the recipe on her blog.  And you can find the chocolate pastry cream recipe here.   Don't forget to see what everyone else did with this week's recipe--you can find links here.