Blueberries are intense. Intense color that stains your mouth purple. Intense sweet and tangy juice so rich it almost tastes like wine. Unlike other fruit, such as apples, they don't even need vanilla or cinnamon to give them a boost. They are the boost. The intensity of blueberries make them a nice kind of accent to other dishes, like in a fruit salad or a salsa. They are also great as polka dots in pancakes and muffins but a little trickier in pie. Just too intense. That's why I love blueberry tarts.
When you pick a bucket full you end up with about four pounds, which is a lot of blueberries! I called my mom for a recipe for a blueberry tart. This particular one uses three cups of blueberries and combines them with a sour cream filling that bakes up like a custard. Plopping blueberries into a custardy base, a pastry cream or clafouti seems like the right way to handle them.
I am hopeless when it comes to pie crust. I just don't have the pie crust mojo. So I rely on recipes with graham cracker crusts, and press-in crusts. This recipe has a crust that is no fail. Really. I swear. I'm going to use it as my default pie crust from now on. My mom cut the recipe out of a newspaper over twenty years ago so I apologize for not being able to attribute it properly. I have simplified the instructions somewhat.
Mom's Blueberry Tart
Ingredients
Pastry:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 lb butter (1 stick)
2 Tablespoon sour cream
Filling:
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
3 cups blueberries
Instructions
Cut the ingredients with a pastry blender or with two butter knives. Press into a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Make sure the crust goes up the sides of the pan and try to pat it into the pan as evenly as you can. Prick the crust with a fork and bake at 375 degrees for 20 min, cool.
Wash the berries and let them dry on paper towels. Beat together all the remaining ingredients. Spread berries into the crust and pour liquid filling over the berries. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until lightly browned on top.
Enjoy!
Amy Sherman is a San Francisco–based writer, recipe developer, restaurant reviewer and all around culinary enthusiast. She blogs for Epicurious , Bay Area Bites and Cooking with Amy .