Who you callin’ a tart? We’ve been kvelling over Dan and Annie Shannon’s cooking skills for quite a while. They launched the Betty Crocker Project on their site, Meet the Shannons and made it their goal to veganize the entire Betty Crocker cookbook. And they’ve done it… Julie & Julia style! Today Annie shares her recipe for these delicious tarts.
I love this time of year, the dogwood tree outside my office window starts to get little bright green buds. Daffodils and crocuses are sprouting up throughout the neighborhood and the grocery stores are full of fresh berries. Berry stands are opening up anywhere near North Carolina and if you’re lucky you can find a stand that also has asparagus – but more about that later. Let’s talk tarts. These tarts are just… lovely. But even though those bright flavorful berries kinda steal the show, I have to mention the crust and crumble for this are pretty exceptional as well. The crust was made with Earl Grey Tea (my personal favorite) and then we topped the tart with an orange zest crumble to bring out the bergamont* flavors in the tea. The combination of them all make this tart really stand out in The Betty Crocker Project. Yeah this tart has that “it factor” to make it in the world of food blogging.
Let’s get these tarts started!
Fresh Berry & Tea Tart
(this is an adaption of Betty’s Mixed Berry Crumble Tart and makes 2-4 mini tarts depending on how big your dishes are. We made 2 using 4.5″ tart dishes.)
Earl Grey Tea Crust
* 1 Cup All Purpose Flour (you will need more to flour your surface for rolling out your dough)
* 1/2 teaspoon Salt
* 1/3 Cup + 1 Tablespoon Vegetable – Vegan Shortening
* 2 – 3 Tablespoon Earl Grey Tea (chilled)
Fresh Berry Filling
* 1 1/2 Cups Fresh Strawberries (sliced)
* 1 1/2 Cups Fresh Blueberries
* 1 1/2 Cups Fresh Raspberries
* 2/3 Cups Sugar
* 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
Citrus Crumble Topping
* 3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
* 1/4 Cup Sugar
* 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
* 2 Teaspoons Orange Zest (Grated Orange Peel)
* 1/3 Cup Margarine
HOW TO:
Heat oven to 450. Prepare 1 mug of Earl Grey Tea per instructions on the package and then put in the fridge. Make your Pastry Dough – Crust first. In a large bowl, mix all the Crust Ingredients with a hand held pastry blender. Once your mix is blended and looks like pebbles, sprinkle with the chilled Earl Grey Tea 1 Tablespoon at a time. Continue to blend with the pastry blender and once your Dough is moist and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, gather it into a ball in the center. Flour your surface and rolling pin for rolling out your Dough. Roll out your dough and then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 45 minutes. You want your Dough to be firm but still pliable. Chilling your Dough will make your crust flakier. After your Dough has chilled, roll it out again to make sure it has stayed even and fix any cracks or splits. Then divide your dough into segments to fir your tart dishes. Then press your Dough into your tart dishes. If there are any cracks or splits that comes up – just takes some extra dough and press them into the spots that need a little help. If you smooth out your edges – no one will ever know! Be sure and cut off any extra dough that might hang over the edges. You want your crust to look kinda like this – not go over the edge like a traditional pie : In a large bowl, gently toss Berries with the Sugars and Cornstarch. Spoon into your Pastry lined tart dishes. In another bow, mix the Crumble Topping Ingredients with a fork until they are crumbly. Sprinkle an even amount over the berries in each tart. You want some Berries to peak through so don;t get to heavy handed with the Crumble Topping. Bake for around 30 minutes or until the Berries are bubbling and your Crust has a light golden color. Let them cool until they aren’t too hot to touch but still warm. Keep in mind also that the Crust will continue to brown a little bit as it cools because your dishes are still hot. So be sure and pull them out before they are too brown. *Bergamont is the best flavor it the world. I love citrus but bergamont really stands out with the perfect mix of tartness and sweetness.