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Summer Berry Tart

A simple, fresh Summer tart made with all the amazing berries you can find, in an oat crumble crust and blueberry compote base.

Course Dessert
Cuisine North American
Keyword berries, blueberries, currants, gooseberries, oats
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
chill 2 hours
Total Time 35 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

Crust

  • 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 3 tbsp packed brown sugar
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/3 cup AP flour, or your favourite gf blend
  • 1/4 cup cornmeal
  • 3/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 tsp cardamom
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 4 tbsp butter room temperature, cut into small cubes
  • 2-3 tbsp softened coconut oil

Filling

  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 1/2 cup water plus 2 tbsp water
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar use as much as you see fit
  • 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 cups fresh berries assorted as you see fit, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, currants, gooseberries, blackberries, see Notes
  • freshly chopped mint or thyme
  • 2/3 cup whipping cream can be replaced with 1 cup of creme fraiche that you have sweetened with the ingredients below for the whipping cream; or greek yogurt
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar can use granulated if you want
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tbsp whiskey or rum

Instructions

  1. To make the Crust:

    Combine the sugars, the oats, flour, cornmeal, salt and spices together in a bowl.

    Add the butter and 2 tbsp coconut oil, and mix with your fingers until combined but not overly mixed- it should be somewhat chunky. If it is absolutely not holding together, add another tbsp of coconut oil. It should stick together and up the sides when you transfer it to the tart shell.

  2. Press evenly into an ungreased 9" pie plate or tart shell with a removable bottom (this amount should work with most tart shell sizes, but if necessary make another 1/2 recipe for a larger tart pan). Press it so that it goes up the sides evenly. Freeze until solid, 10-15 minutes.

  3. Preheat the oven to 350F

    Place the pie plate or tart pan onto a baking sheet and bake in the centre of the oven for 18-20 minutes. Check at about 12 minutes, and if the sides are starting to slide down a bit, remove from the oven and gently push them back up using a wooden spoon or tea towel.

    Cool before filling.

  4. Filling:

    Take the 1 cup of blueberries, 1/2 cup of water and place in a small sauce pan. Cover and bring to a boil.

    While this is cooking, take the remaining 2 tbsp of water and the cornstarch and mix in a small cup to form a slurry.

  5. When the blueberries have come to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, stirring for 3-4 minutes, until the berries are starting to burst open and the liquid is starting the thicken.

    Stirring constantly, add the slurry, as well as the sugar. lemon juice and salt.

    Simmer for another minute or until the mixture becomes shiny and translucent.

    Remove from heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes, till cooled down.

  6. Spoon the filling into the cooled tart shell.  Spread it evenly across the bottom.

  7. Then start laying out your berries over this base, gently pressing each berry into the compote.

    Start with your larger berries, strategically laying them throughout the surface.  Work with each berry, saving the smaller berries to fill in the gaps.

  8. Let cool completely before serving. Chill for about 2 hours.

    Use chopped mint or mint leaves to garnish, scattering them over the berries.

  9. Serve with cream whipped up with the sugar, vanilla and whiskey or rum.

    Alternatively you can use creme fraiche sweetened with the sugar, vanilla and rum (there is no need to whip this up!)

Recipe Notes

You may not need all 2 cups of berries. I'd rather you have too many than too little. Let them get all snug in the tart!

I give credit to Rose Levy Beranbaum for the blueberry filling. Her genius Fresh Blueberry Pie is one of my favourites to make. I just stopped short of stirring fruit into the cooked blueberry mixture, and used it instead as a layer in which I would 'stick' my fresh berries.
This can be as fancy or as simple as you would like.
You don't need to sweeten the whipped cream if you don't feel like it.
This will keep in the fridge 2 days. But really, will it even get to the fridge?!
I say it feeds six, but that will depend on how large you choose to make it.
Adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Blueberry Pie.