Houses with Mia and a Tart

Mia loves to paint. She loves anything creative actually. I love to listen in on her when she is drawing or using clay, she has such an imagination! I found these cute little birdhouses for a buck each and we painted them. She carefully layers the paint, her little brow furrowed in concentration. She painted one side blue then layered yellow over the top and she got green! I explained to her about the primary colors and how she can make other colors with just red, blue, and yellow. She was so excited about that. I thrive on seeing her little mind thinking and planning and learning. Such a gift she is, on a daily basis for me.


When we were done painting, she said to me, with an impish grin, "mama, I really like yours...how about that one is mine and you can have this one?" Of course I responded with, "oh Mia, yours is so beautiful, look at the pretty colors you chose, everyone will love it, you are so talented. I love yours." I can't help it, that's not spoiling right? It's so true! Haha. :)


Later that evening I made a French cream tart with fresh berries and peaches. It is so easy and so delicious, I think it is a perfect summer dessert for a party. You can do it all year around though, mmmm, pears in fall! It has a crumbly, buttery shortbread crust, fresh fruit and a creamy filling. It really tastes best eaten within 5 hours of baking, I would say. Although the next morning I cut a piece and ate it cold, straight up, from the fridge and it most definitely hit the spot!

Here is my recipe, adapted from a larger scale recipe from my boss, Stephanie, that we make at work, Water Street Bistro. It makes about two 9-9.5 inch tarts:

Shortbread crust:
1 cup butter
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt (optional)
1 tsp. vanilla (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt; blend into butter mixture. Press into two 9 inch pie plates or two fluted 9.5 inch tart pans. I always start with the edges, work my way around and then pat it into the center.
   
3. Bake in preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned.

It will look something like this after baking, excuse these photos, it was late so I didn't have much natural light..
Now just arrange your fruit however you would like.
And give it a little sprinkle of granulated sugar.Now, for the filling:

2 cups cream
2 eggs
2-4 tablespoons sugar or honey, depending on how sweet your fruit is. One time, none of the strawberries I had were sweet at all, so I ended up using about 1/2 cup just because they were sooo tart! If you buy your fruit in season though, it should be sweet and perfect. I know you aren't supposed to eyeball or estimate in baking but I do with this recipe.

1. Whisk everything together and pour over fruit.
2. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 mins, it will be bubbling and should look something like this: