Tart with pâte brisée and egg cream filling

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 125 g butter
• 250 g flour
• 70 ml water or 80 ml
• 4 eggs
• 150 g sugar
• 500 ml sweet cream
• 60 cornstarch
• 1 large can of fruit if desired (e.g. pears, mirabelle plums, peaches, ….)

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 10 minutes

from Alsace

On a short trip to Alsace, I was lucky enough to taste a gigantic cake for dessert. Here’s the recipe, which I got from the cook herself (in French). First, make a compact but supple shortcrust pastry with 125g butter (softened, at room temperature), 250g flour, and about up to (rather less) 80ml water. Chill this while you make the filling. For the filling, whisk the 4 eggs with 150g sugar, then add 1/2 liter of cream and 60g cornstarch. Once the filling is ready, take the dough out of the refrigerator and press it into a tart pan, alternatively a large round pizza pan or a large springform pan. Make a firm, tight-fitting edge about 3-4cm high. This will ensure that the filling (which will initially be very runny) doesn’t overflow. If the dough is still too soft, let it refrigerate a little longer! Poke a few holes in the bottom of the dough with a fork and fill with the filling. If you’d like to add fruit, top the dough with the fruit pieces (fresh or canned; I’ve tried mirabelle plums, pears, and peaches, they were always delicious!). Place it on the middle rack of an oven preheated to about 200 degrees Celsius! I haven’t needed to pre-bake the shortcrust pastry yet; it worked just fine! TIP: Since the egg-cream filling is very runny, making it difficult to transport to the oven, I placed the tin with the dough on a rack in the middle oven rack and then poured in the egg-cream! I usually baked the tart for about 50 minutes; you should check it frequently until the filling is completely set (it’s no longer runny and doesn’t “slosh” when the tin is moved). If the surface browns too much, you can cover it with aluminum foil. Once the tart has cooled, cut it into rather small slices (16-20), as the cream makes it very rich and filling, but incredibly delicious! Have fun baking it!