Fresh blueberries and lemon: true love./Wikimedia Commons
Former colleague Steve Medd left me a note and asked if I had a blueberry tart recipe to recommend. I ran across this one in my newly rediscovered favorite 1980s cookbook, “The Silver Palate Cookbook” by Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins. This classic tart combines lemon and blueberry – two flavors that are just meant to go together.
This edition of “The Silver Palate Cookbook,” ISBN 0894802046, is out of print, but you can find the 25th anniversary edition in stores and online.
Ingredients:
1 cup fresh lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
5 Tbsp. grated lemon zest
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
6 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup granulated sugar
9-inch recipe sweet buttery tart crust, partially baked in a 1-inch-deep tart pan with a removable bottom
1 ½ cups blueberries, rinsed, sorted and dried
Confectioner's sugar for garnish
Make the crust:
Make the pastry crust according the directions here, but cut the baking time short by 10 minutes. Bake 5 minutes at 425°, and then lower the oven temperature to 375° and bake 20 minutes.
Lift out the parchment and the pie weights and allow the partially baked crust to cool to room temperature on a wire rack while you make the lemon filling.
Make the filling:
Preheat the oven to 400°.
Whisk the lemon juice, grated zest and melted butter in a medium-size bowl. Beat in the eggs and granulated sugar; mix well.
Pour into the partially baked tart shell and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Remove the tart from the oven to cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.
Arrange the blueberries over the warm filling. Press them gently into the filling to help them adhere.
When the tart is completely cool, remove the tart from the pan.
Dust with confectioner's sugar and serve. Makes 10-12 portions.
Cook’s notes:
- You can top this tart with any combination of berries or whole fresh summer fruit. If you prefer cut fruit such as peaches, serve it on the side instead. The enzymes in the fruit juice will damage the surface of the lemon filling and make it runny.
More information:
See the sweet buttery tart crust recipe here.
You might also enjoy this dense lemon cake that’s soaked in mint-scented lemon syrup.
If nothing else will do but to have the original “The Silver Palate Cookbook” with its charming line drawings and commentary by the authors, visit Pasadena’s cookbook superstore. OK, Janet Jarvits does not refer to her store as a “superstore,” but you might after visiting.
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