The Friday Baking Project
Crème Brûlée Tart

Crème Brûl©e Tart

Yield: 1 8″ tart

# of Servings: 6 to 8

Crust:

1 recipe P¢te Sucr©e

Crème Brûl©e filling:

2 cups (16 fl oz) heavy cream

2 tbl cup (.9 oz / 26 g) sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

4 large egg yolks  

2 tbl sugar (.9 oz / 26 g) sugar

3 tbl (1.5 oz / 43 g) unsalted butter, room temperature

Fruit: 

1 ¼ cup assorted berries, such as raspberries, blackberries¹ or blueberries

Sugar topping: 

¼ cup (1.8 oz / 50 g) sugar

Special tools and equipment needed:

• Tart pan with removeable bottom, 8″ by 1″
• Heavy duty 2-qt saucepan
• Fine-mesh stainless strainer
• Dried beans or pie weights
• Heat-proof spatula
• Instant read thermometer
• Small butane kitchen torch

Pre-recipe preparations:

• Before making the custard, set up a fine-mesh strainer, bowl for the cooked custard, and a larger bowl filled with ice water.

Directions

Tart shell:

1. Roll out and the p¢te sucr©e to a â…›” thickness and drape over the tart shell. Gently, without stretching, press into the corners.
2. Use a rolling pin to trim off the excess dough. Let rest and firm up in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
3. Pre-heat oven to 375 °F.
4. Place a parchment paper circle or aluminum foil sprayed with pan release against the pastry and fill with dried beans. 
5. Bake at 375 °F for 20 minutes, or until the dough is set (no longer raw).
6. Remove the beans and the parchment circle and continue baking until the dough just begins to color a light brown, about 10 minutes.
7. Remove to a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature. 

Crème Brûl©e custard²

1. Place the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla bean along with the scraped-out seeds into the saucepan. Stir well and place over medium heat.
2. Bring just to the boil, turn off the heat, and let sit for 10 minutes.
3. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar, just to combine, about 45 seconds.
4. Temper the egg yolks by very slowly whisking in about ¼ of the hot cream.
5. Return to the sauce pan and, over medium heat, cook until 185 °F, or until it coats the back of a spoon. 
6. Immediately remove from the heat and whisk in the room temperature butter. 

8. Stain through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean mixing bowl and set over bowl of ice water.
9. Stir occasionally until the custard reaches 55 °F. 
10. Scatter assorted berries over the inside of the tart shell.
11. Pour enough custard over the berries to cover up the edges of the pastry. 
12. Refrigerate overnight. 

Finishing:

1. Prior to serving, spread a thin layer of sugar evenly over the top of the tart.
2. Caramelize the sugar using the torch.
3. For maximum crispiness, serve within an hour. 

Notes:

¹ Large blackberries should be cut in half

² There will be more custard than is needed to fill the tart. The extra may be placed in small ramekins.