Fruit Tart a la creme de la creme

Ok so it doesn't have cream in it at all except for whipped cream but it looks like it should have 'creme de la creme' associated with it.

So I realize that I said tomorrow in my last blog and here it is two days later, but hey it's done now, and it looks amazing. When I was cutting it I got to taste the little crumbs and it was delicious, and Tart. It's definitely got enough lemon in it. And I got to use my new pie cutter. I know that seems a little silly, but it's awful when you cut a pie into all sorts of shapes and sizes and give it to people. So now, perfect sized pieces and a new gadget for my ever shrinking kitchen.

It was also difficult to find a 9" tart pan. I wasn't even able to find one exactly 9", but the wonderful guy at the kitchen store had an excellent point. Once the crumbs are put in for the crust it will probably be 9". And good thing I got a 9 1/2" pan because I would have had jello goo all over the place. As it was, I had to clean some off the sides and had to catch some from dripping even more. I added a note to my recipe, when it says chill until you can mound the jello, I thought that when it came out jiggling that it was fine, but alas it was not. So now I know to actually keep it in longer. I think that would have saved the counter from getting jello all over it.

And I realized also last night that hand picked blueberries are Great.... until you have to clean them. All of the sticks and greens that have clung to their fellow compatriots need to go, and they make sure that you have difficulty finding them.

I had a lot of frustration with this tart last night, which was unfortunate, but the tart turned out fine. Sometimes your emotions cripple your baking, but it didn't happen. Speaking of which has anyone seen "The Ramen Girl". I don't think it came out to theatres, but it wasn't too bad. Anyway she cooked a batch of ramen finally and ended up crying in it, so when people at it they started crying. Ok so not entirely realistic but sometimes true.

I had to clean the oven, from my last fiasco with dripping stuff in the oven, but it works just fine, no fire alarm going off.

There are two pieces left in the breakroom last I checked on Friday, so I might be taking some home with me. I actually had my own piece that day, Thursday I think it was. It was good, and not actually as Tart as I thought it would have been. Which was interesting. So I'll see if that's just me or not.

Anyway now to think of my next pie to make!

MB


Ps: Finally used the food chopper for the Nilla wafer crust, and boy was that sooo much faster than a spoon and a plastic baggy.

Fruit Tart a la Creme a.k.a Blueberry Refrigerator Pie

So I made this tart again and tried to rearrange the ingredients so that I could make it more 4th of July appropriate.

I added raspberries, and strawberries, plus the blueberries. Blueberries on the bottom, strawberries mixed in with the jello/whipped cream mix. Then raspberries sprinkled on top for decoration.

Instead of having the lemon flavored jello, I bought some regular unflavored gelatin and tried adding vanilla and sugar. It was quite an adventure and there was some heartache that came with it. The recipe called for 3 oz of Jello, but then getting the gelatin I didn't know how much I needed so I bought 3 oz of regular gelatin not realizing that the ratio isn't the same. I tried one packet at first and then that didn't work, not at all...

I thought that it didn't work because it didn't have enough gelatin and it needed more so we tried putting another packet in, and that didn't work because after the gelatin gets jelloey, it doesn't mix well.

So after a little discussion with the cooking queen I decided to do it again, even though they thought everyone thought it wasn't a good idea. So because I thought that I needed more gelatin I put two packets together, and made it the wrong way, but incidentally it worked. And then I realized I added too much gelatin, but thank goodness it didn't make it like a brick of gelatin. Also I added maybe a 1/4 cup of sugar (I didn't really measure it... it was that frantic), and 1 teaspoon of vanilla, abouts. So it actually turned out good.

Also the different fruits made it realllly good. So many different flavors with the vanilla and what not.

So here is the revised recipe:

Blueberry Refrigerator Pie

prep time: 30 min

total time: 4 hr 30 min

makes: 10 servings

What You Need!

7 Tbsp. butter, divided

50 NILLA Wafers, finely crushed (about 1-1/2 cups)

1 - 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 - 1/2 cups fresh strawberries
1 cup raspberries

1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp. sugar, divided

3/4 cup cold water, divided

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

Zest and juice of 1 lemon, divided

3/4 cup boiling water

1 pkg regular unflavored gelatin

ice cubes

1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided

Make It!

HEAT oven to 350°F.

RESERVE 1 Tbsp. butter. Melt remaining butter; mix with wafer crumbs. Press onto bottom and up side of 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Bake 10 min. or until golden brown.

MEANWHILE, combine 1-1/2 cups blueberries, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp. cold water in saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Dissolve cornstarch in 3 Tbsp. of the remaining cold water; whisk into blueberry mixture. Simmer on low heat 2 min. or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add reserved butter; stir until melted. Reserve 1/2 tsp. lemon zest and 1 tsp. juice; stir remaining zest and juice into blueberry mixture. Pour into crust.

ADD boiling water to gelatin mix in medium bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Add enough ice to remaining 1/2 cup cold water to measure 1 cup. Add to gelatin; stir until slightly thickened. Remove any unmelted ice. Whisk 1 cup COOL WHIP into gelatin. Refrigerate 15 min. or until mixture is thick enough to mound. Stir in the strawberries; spoon over layer in crust.

REFRIGERATE 4 hours or until firm. Top with remaining COOL WHIP. Top whipped cream with raspberries.

(I didn't do this with the raspberries but this is what it says to do with the blueberries when they were on top: Toss blueberries with reserved lemon zest, juice and sugar; spoon over pie.)

For tomorrow ... hopefully

So I am probably going to make my next pie tonight. I have decided that a fruit pie is just the thing for this hot summer week. My dad has grown a garden in his backyard, and before that we had an assortment of fruit bushes/trees. There's an apple tree (though I don't think we've ever eaten much from it), a cherry tree (aka a bird buffet), some blueberry bushes, and I think some blackberry bushes. We also had a plum tree at one point, and I think a peach tree, but I don't know if they are still producing anything or not. Like I said the birds love them.

We picked a whole slew of blueberries from the garden and I brought them home with me. Gee look, I have fruit, what in the world should I do with all of those blueberries. Ok so a little much on the sarcasm, but indeed I have all of those blueberries and indeed I will make a blueberry pie. I actually like blueberry pie usually. I'm just worried that I won't have enough. I can always buy some from the store, but I'm hoping I have enough. I had some last night with some cherries (a little fruit salad) and it was really good. Most of them aren't tart, which is good, and they are mostly all fat and juicy as well.

I can't wait to have a yard of my own so I can have fruit trees/bushes. I just think having fresh fruit like that is the greatest thing. I went on a cruise a couple years back and they always had fresh fruit on tables for anyone to eat. That's the first time I had Real passion fruit, and boy was it good. So yeah, fresh fruit like that is to die for. I'm more into the citrus fruits as well, so I've got to find someplace that you can grow those well, because I'm pretty sure they don't grow that well down here... or I'm just missing them.

So Blueberry pie next, with a lattice top crust. Fun, fun!

MB