Many of you on Instagram wanted a blackberry recipe. So here’s a blackberry and vanilla tart that I had the chance to make during my holidays in Charente-Maritime. For the first time, I was able to go picking in the middle of the marshes and I can tell you the picking was good. We brought back close to 1.8 kg of wild blackberries.
You should know that when we talk about blackberries, we can mean either the fruit of the bramble or the fruit of the mulberry tree. A little “nature” aside: the mulberry is a tree from the Moraceae family. The bramble, on the other hand, is a fruiting shrub from the Rosaceae family. The bramble blackberry, also called wild blackberry, is generally juicier, sweeter and more fragrant than the mulberry. It’s also smaller and less fleshy. Blackberry season starts in July and ends around October but wild blackberries are generally picked from mid-August to late September.
While picking the blackberries, I already had in mind the recipe I wanted to make: a blackberry tart. Simple but effective. But I didn’t just want to put blackberries on a pastry cream. In the end, this tart is made up of a pâte sucrée, an almond cream studded with blackberries, a blackberry confit, a vanilla mascarpone chantilly and of course, wild blackberries. All made on holiday and therefore outside my comfort zone (and it’s no easy thing to bake somewhere other than at home). I used an old metal mould here, as vintage as you like. I actually had great fun taking a few photos with it.
If you have the chance to go blackberry picking, don’t hold back! It’s a lovely moment to spend as a family (but careful, I advise you to equip yourself with gloves because brambles are prickly!!) Otherwise, blackberries from your greengrocer will do very well too 🙂 Finally, if you’re not that keen on blackberries, I recommend the recipe for Cyril Lignac’s raspberry tart.
Ingredients & preparation
6 components · Full recipe
Blackberry confit (make the day before)
Ingredients
- 200 g (7.1 oz) blackberry purée
- 20 g (0.7 oz) sugar
- 2.5 g (0.1 oz) pectin
- a dash of lemon juice
Method
1
In a saucepan, faire tiédir la moitié de la purée de blackberries.
2
Add the sugar and NH pectin, which have been mixed together in advance. Bring to a boil while stirring with a whisk, and continue boiling for one minute.
3
Remove from the heat, add the remaining blackberry purée and a squeeze of lemon juice, and stir to combine.
4
Cover with cling film touching the surface and refrigerate overnight. To make the blackberry purée, simply blend blackberries using a stick blender. Don’t hesitate to blend a little more than 200 g (7.1 oz) of blackberries as you will need to strain the mixture afterwards to remove the seeds.
Sweet shortcrust pastry (start 2 days ahead or the day before)
Ingredients
- 150 g (5.3 oz) butter
- 95 g (3.4 oz) icing sugar
- 30 g (1.1 oz) ground almonds
- 60 g (2.1 oz) eggs (1 large egg)
- 250 g (8.8 oz) plain flour
- 1 pinch of fleur de sel
- a knife tip of ground vanilla
Method
1
Place the softened butter and icing sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed. Add the ground almonds, vanilla powder and fleur de sel and mix again.
2
Next add the beaten egg and mix with a spatula this time (it will be easier than using the stand mixer).
3
Finish with the flour and mix with the stand mixer until a smooth ball of dough forms. Do not overwork the dough. Bring it together into a ball without pressing too hard. Divide the dough into 2 equal portions.
4
Wrap each dough ball in plastic wrap, shaping them into flattened rectangles. Refrigerate one overnight and freeze the other (to use for another tart).
5
The next day, roll out the dough to a thickness of 2–3 mm using a rolling pin. Cut out a round of dough measuring 22 cm (8.7 in) in diameter.
6
Grease an 18 cm (7.1 in) tart ring, then lay the dough inside, taking care to create a sharp right angle.
7
Refrigerate for at least 6 hours (overnight is ideal).
Baking the sweet shortcrust pastry
Ingredients
- Aucun
Method
1
Preheat the oven to 160°C / 325°F.
2
Once the dough is well chilled, trim any excess dough that overhangs using a small knife.
3
Place a sheet of baking paper over the tart shell and fill with baking beads or dried beans to blind bake (normally, if the tart shell has been refrigerated overnight, there is no need for baking beads as the dough will not move).
4
Bake for 15 minutes.
Almond cream
Ingredients
- 50 g (1.8 oz) softened butter
- 50 g icing sugar
- 50 g (1.8 oz) ground almonds
- 50 g (1.8 oz) eggs
- 50 g (1.8 oz) blackberries
Method
1
Meanwhile, in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the first 3 ingredients and cream together.
2
Then incorporate the eggs and mix until a smooth cream is obtained.
3
After 15 minutes of baking, remove the tart from the oven and leave it to cool slightly.
4
Smooth out any imperfections in the dough with a Microplane grater, then pipe the almond cream into the tart shell, taking care to spread it evenly and not to fill it too much as it will puff up during baking. Arrange halved blackberries over the entire surface of the tart.
5
Bake for an additional 15 minutes.
6
Once out of the oven, place the tart shell on a wire rack to cool. Set aside.
Chantilly mascarpone à la vanilla
Ingredients
- 250 g (8.8 oz) heavy cream
- 100 g (3.5 oz) mascarpone
- 3 to 4 tablespoons icing sugar
- 1 vanilla pod
Method
1
Place the mixing bowl and the beaters of the electric whisk in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.
2
Pour the cream, mascarpone and vanilla seeds into the chilled bowl and begin whisking on medium speed, then once the cream starts to firm up, increase the speed.
3
Add the icing sugar once the cream is almost whipped (be careful — it thickens very quickly with mascarpone).
4
Transfer to a piping bag without a nozzle and set aside.
Assembly
Ingredients
- 375 g (13.2 oz) blackberries
Method
1
Rinse the blackberries under cold water, then pat dry on kitchen paper.
2
Loosen the blackberry compote with a whisk to make it more pliable, then spread it over the cooled almond cream using a small offset spatula.
3
Pipe the mascarpone whipped cream over the top in a spiral starting from the centre, then smooth the surface level with a large palette knife.
4
Arrange the blackberries over the entire surface of the tart.
5
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Gallery
