Tuesdays with Dorie: Crust + Jam + Berries = The Amazing La Palette’s Strawberry Tart

Happy Happy Joy Joy – Ren & Stimpy

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe is La Palette’s Strawberry Tart chosen by Marie from A Year at Oak Cottage.  I read the recipe over and thought “hmmm.  Sounds good.” But I  wasn’t terribly excited about making it.  I had just had, what I felt to be, the best strawberry pie I’d ever had, at the Curtis Cafe in Stafford, KS.  I will have to admit that I was wrong about this recipe . . . boy was I wrong!  A few simple ingredients.  While good on their own they become something amazing when the various textures and flavors come together.

I used the same crust I had made for the French Lemon Tart a few weeks ago.  I like the sweet tart dough with nuts.  I used ground almonds.

On to the berries.  I didn’t have a chance to go to the farmer’s market this weekend, so settled for some pretty good looking Drisoll’s strawberries from the grocery store.  I sliced them and added a spoonful of sugar and spoonful of cassis.  I was worried that the berries would have a raw alcohol flavor to them but I was pleasantly surprised by the way the cassis complemented the berries.

And that’s it.  Now on to the assembly.  I cut some wedges out of the crust.  I worried about it crumbling or breaking.  I used a very sharp knife and cut straight down.  It didn’t break or crumble.  I was able to make very clean cuts.  I spread Bonne Maman strawberry preserves on each slice, spooned on some berries, and plopped on some freshly whipped lightly sweetened cream.  I decided not to use the black pepper.

Happy Happy Joy Joy! A crisp shortbread-like crust, sweet jam, slightly tart and boozy berries, and creamy whipped cream.  I will take this over strawberry shortcake any day.  This summer I may work my way through the summer fruits using this recipe.  Very simple yet very elegant. And the beauty is that it doesn’t get all soggy since you can assemble it one piece at a time if you wish.

If you’re wondering where the recipe is, it’s been decided that since the group has grown so large it’s not fair to Dorie for us to put the recipes online.  So, if you don’t have the book, I can highly recommend it.

Next week’s recipe: Peppermint Cream Puff Ring chosen by Caroline from A Consuming Passion.