This is one of my favorite things to bake, because it’s fun, and the taste is incredible — super tart lemon, mixed with the sweetness of the blueberries and strawberries. It’s definitely a dessert, but I like to feel a tiny bit less guilty, because there are some healthy ingredients in there too: eggs, fresh lemon juice, strawberries, and blueberries! : )
Lemon Blueberry Tart Pie with Strawberry Garnish
Adapted from a recipe in a kosher cook book at my Mom’s house and The Food Network’s Blueberry-Lemon Tart
Ingredients for the pie dough:
- 1.5 cups flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- pinch of kosher salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
- 1 egg yolk (save the egg white for later)
- 2 tablespoons of ice water (or more, depending on how much your dough needs)
Ingredients for the tart filling:
- 1 pint blueberries
- 5-6 lemons (to make 3/4 cup lemon juice and 2 tablespoons lemon zest)
- 1 cup and 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- pinch of kosher salt
In addition, you’ll need: a food processor, a tart pan with removable bottom, pie weights, parchment paper, a grater for zesting the lemons, something mesh to filter out the lemon seeds, brush for brushing egg whites, and a rolling pin.
1. Make the pie crust dough
In the food processor, pulse together 1.5 cups of flour, 2 tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of kosher salt. Cut one stick of cold butter into evenly sized cubes, and mix into dough. Separate one egg, leaving the egg whites aside for later, and add the egg yolk to the mixture. Continue pulsing. Next, add two tablespoons of ice water and continue. If your dough comes together like below (my Mom’s note: it will clump together on one side of the processor), your dough is done. If it still doesn’t look like dough, start adding more ice water, about 1/4 teaspoon at a time, continuing to pulse.
2. Refrigerate the pie dough
When your dough is done, form a ball, and wrap it up in saran wrap. Leave it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
3. Roll out the pie crust dough and place in pie tart tin
After 30 minutes, remove dough from refrigerator and lay down a piece of parchment paper. Lightly flour your rolling pin, and roll out dough until it’s larger than your pie tart tin. When that’s done, roll the dough up around your pin, and use that to lay the pie crush into the tin. If you’re like me, it probably won’t be perfect, so use bits and pieces of dough that didn’t fit it, to fill in the gaps around the edges. If there’s extra, fold it down to create a thick pie crust edge.
4. Put pie crust back in the refrigerator and start squeezing and zesting lemons
Cover your pie crust with saran wrap, and put it back in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes. While it’s cooling, wash all of your lemons. Using a grater, zest a few of the lemons until you have a pile of lemon zest large enough to yield 2 tablespoons of zest. Then, cut your lemons in half and squeeze the juice out of them into a bowl. Next, I used a small mesh colander to sift out the seeds. Make sure you’ve got 3/4 cup of seedless lemon juice.
5. Bake the pie crust
After 30 minutes, remove pie crust from refrigerator and remove saran wrap. Use a fork to poke holes all over the pie crust. Place a piece of parchment paper over the crust, and cover with pie weights. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
6. Mix lemon tart filling
While pie crust is baking, whisk 4 eggs in a bowl. Mix in 1 cup of sugar, 3/4 cup of your fresh lemon juice, 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1 tablespoon lemon zest, and a pinch of kosher salt. In a separate, small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon sugar. Set aside.
7. Brush pie crust with egg white
Using the egg white left over from the separated egg in the dough, mix it with 1 teaspoon of water, and brush over the entire pie crust. If you have more time left over, start washing your blueberries and strawberries.
8. Assemble and bake the tart
When pie crust has cooled, cover bottom of pie with blueberries. Take the smaller bowl mixture of sugar and lemon zest and toss over the blueberries. Next, pour the lemon mixture over the blueberries. Place tart tin in a baking sheet, and bake tart at 350 degrees for about 40-45 minutes, or until the top begins to lightly brown, and the center only jiggles a slight bit when you tap the baking sheet. Baking time may vary depending on your oven.
9. Add Strawberry and blueberry garnish
Slice strawberries in thin slices. Lay them out in circles, around the tart, starting with the outside edge. Leave a small circle in the middle, which you can fill with blueberries. Your tart is now complete!
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