Chefs' Recipes

Serge Dansereau's blueberry vanilla tart

A Gourmet Traveller recipe for blueberry vanilla tart by Serge Dansereau of Sydney's Bathers' Pavilion.

  • Serves 8
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Blueberry vanilla tart
"My parents used to take us on summer expeditions and the highlight was gathering wild blueberries and strawberries. I got used to eating the tiny blueberries and, to this day, I prefer them over the large ones even if my search for them is not always successful. This blueberry tart is a perfect traveller." - Serge Dansereau
This recipe is from the book <em>Bathers' Pavilion Menus and Recipes</em> (ABC Books) by Serge Dansereau.

Ingredients

Tart
  • 225 gm unsalted butter
  • 100 gm caster sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 350 gm plain flour
  • 3-4 punnets ripe blueberries, rinsed and towel dried
  • To Dust: icing sugar
Frangipane filling
  • 100 gm unsalted butter
  • 100 gm caster sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 40 gm plain flour
  • 125 gm ground almonds
Vanilla custard filling
  • 1 litre milk (4 cups)
  • 2 vanilla beans, split
  • 250 gm white sugar
  • 6 egg yolks
  • 40 gm plain flour
  • 40 gm corn flour

Method

Main
  • 1
    For the frangipane filling, in an electric mixer beat the butter and caster sugar for 2 minutes, then add the eggs, slowly, beating until well combined. Stop the mixer. Sift the flour and ground almonds and add to the butter mixture. Beat for 1 minute, transfer to a bowl and refrigerate overnight covered with plastic wrap.
  • 2
    Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until very pale, then beat in the egg. Gradually add the flour and mix to a smooth paste. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Roll out the pastry to 3mm thickness and use to line 8 individual 7.5cm-diameter tartlet tins. Chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 180C and blind bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, add a tablespoon of frangipane filling to each tart and bake for a further 10 minutes or until golden brown.
  • 3
    For the vanilla custard, bring the milk, vanilla beans and sugar to the boil, slowly. Cream egg yolks and flours together and pour the slowly boiled liquid into this egg mixture once the vanilla beans have infused well. Mix well. Return the entire mixture to the heat, and cook on medium heat, stirring until thickening occurs. Continue to mix on low heat and 'cook out' the flour taste for a further 5 minutes. Pass through a sieve and place into a bowl with some baking paper on top to stop a skin from forming. When the mixture has cooled to room temperature, spoon a level amount of the custard into each cooked pastry tart.
  • 4
    While the vanilla custard is still at room temperature in the tart shells, place the blueberries tightly packed on top of the custard, dust with icing sugar and serve.