Free Form Fruit Tart Pt 1

-EASY PASTRY CREAM-
3 tb Sugar
2 tb All-purpose bleached flour
1 pn Salt
3/4 c Milk
1 Egg
1 Egg yolk
1 ts Vanilla extract
1 tb Soft unsalted butter
2 ts Orange liqueur or kirsch

To make the tart dough:

To mix the dough in the food processor, place flour, sugar, salt and baking
powder in work bowl fitted with metal blade. Pulse 3 or 4 times to mix. Cut
butter into 7 or 8 pieces and add to work bowl. Pulse about 12 to 15 times,
until mixture is reduced to a fine powder, do not allow to become pasty.
Add egg and continue to pulse until dough forms a ball. Remove dough from
work bowl to lightly floured work surface and pat dough into a 5-inch disk.
Use immediately, or wrap in plastic and chill until firm before using.

To make a free-form tart crust, roll dough to a 12-inch disk and transfer
it to a parchment or foil-lined cookie sheet or the back of a jelly-roll
pan. Using a plate or cardboard disk as a pattern, trim the dough to an
even 12-inch diameter. Fold under about 1/2-inch of dough at the edge of
the disk of dough, then flute the edge as if it were a pie, to make the
edge stand up (use the thumb and index finger of one hand on the outside of
the tart shell and the index finger of the other hand on the inside and
pinch gently from the outside while pressing lightly from the inside)
repeat all around the edge of the crust. Pierce the dough with a fork
before baking.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and set a rack in the middle level. Place pan
in oven and lower heat to 350 degrees. Bake for about 20 minutes, checking
once or twice. When baked, remove pan

from oven to a rack to cool.

To make the easy pastry cream:

Combine sugar, flour and salt in a 1 to 1 1/2 quart non-reactive saucepan.
Stir with a small whisk to mix. Whisk in milk, then egg and yolk. Place
over low heat, whisking constantly, until the pastry cream thickens and
comes to a boil. Allow to boil 10 or 15 seconds, whisking constantly.
Remove from heat whisk in vanilla and butter. Scrape the pastry cream into
a non-reactive bowl and press plastic wrap against the surface. Refrigerate
until cold, about 1 hour. Immediately before using pastry cream, stir in
optional liqueur.

Filling the shell:

Fruit: Any fruit normally served uncooked will be perfect in this type of a
tart. Try to avoid apples, pears, bananas, peaches and apricots because
they discolor, even when glazed. Best fruits to use and how to pare them:

Strawberries: rinse, hull and halve.

Raspberries: pick over just before using.

Blueberries: rinse and dry on pan lined with paper towels.

Blackberries, etc: rinse and dry on pan lined with paper towels.

Kiwi: peel, halve and slice.

Orange: peel, halve and slice.

Seedless grapes: Stem, rise and halve if large.

Mango or Papaya: peel, seed, slice.

First, spread pastry cream evenly on bottom of crust. Arrange fruit in
overlapping concentric rows, beginning at outside and working in toward
center.

For a “fruit salad” tart, toss fruit in a bowl (add a drop of Kirsch, if
you wish), then pile fruit in on pastry cream in tart shell. You’ll need
about 6 cups of fruit for a 10-inch tart shell.

Glazes: Combine 1/2 cup apple jelly, 1/2 cup apricot preserves and 1
tablespoon water or liqueur in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer,
stirring often. Strain into another pan and return to a boil. Allow to