Delicious Blackberry Curd Tart from Cooking Light

The blackberries are rolling in around here right now.

When I lived in Birmingham, we planted some spectacular blackberries in our yard and when I moved last year, one of the last things my dad did before we drove off in the moving truck was to dig up a few baby blackberry plants to take with us to Georgia.  He planted them and they have been growing like crazy in our backyard.  I’m SO glad he did that, it would have been a shame to leave those plants behind.  They came from one of my favorite plant nurseries in Alabama, Petals from the Past.  You should visit them when they have their blackberry and blueberry festival in July (I think!).  It’s a spectacular sight!

So, fast forward to this year.

Those berries are getting bigger and bigger, starting out red and shiny.

Here they are green turning to red, not quite ready yet.

A new addition to my dad’s garden this year, Mr. Owl is from Walmart and he’s hoping this will help scare the birds away from his figs, blackberries, and blueberries.  Fingers crossed!

So, now we have these….which turned into this:

A beautiful blackberry curd tart.  Mom found this recipe in my Cooking Light magazine and whipped it right up.

And yes, it is delish.  She strained the big seeds out (since these are ginormous blackberries) and made a really smooth filling.

And yes, we have enjoyed this Blackberry Curd Tart very much, thank you!

Someone asked in the comments how my mom gets the seeds out of these blackberries and I had to ask her.  I don’t think I’ve ever paid attention to this gadget, but this is an old-fashioned sieve and she used it for many things with small seeds, but it works great for getting the seeds out of these HUGE blackberries.  She may use cheesecloth with this at times too.  The tart is very smooth without the seeds.

If you have access to blackberries too, you might want to try this one.  Very tasty with the almond crust and bursting with blackberry flavor.

Blackberry Curd Tart

(from June, 2012 Cooking Light)

Recipe by:  Julianna Grimes

4.5 oz. all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup almonds, toasted and finely ground

3/8 tsp. salt, divided

8 TBL chilled butter, divided

Baking Spray with flour

3 cups fresh blackberries

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 TBL cornstarch

2 large egg yolks

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

3 large egg whites

1/3 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level.  Combine flour, powdered sugar, almonds, and 1/8 tsp. salt in a food processor; pulse to combine.  Cut 7 TBL butter into small pieces.  Add to flour mixture; pulse just until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Press in the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch round removable-bottom tart pan coated with baking spray.  Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until golden.  Cool on a wire rack.
3. Combine berries, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, and juice in a saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes.  Place mixture in a blender, let stand 5 minutes.  Blend until smooth.  Strain the mixture through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a medium bowl, pressing on solids.  Discard solids.  Wipe pan clean; return mixture to pan.  Combine cornstarch and egg yolks, stirring until smooth.  Stir yolk mixture into berry mixture; bring to a boil over medium-low heat.  Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat, stir in 1/2 tsp. salt and remaining 1 TBL butter.  Scrape mixture into a bowl; cover surface directly with plastic wrap.  Chill.
4. Combine 1/8 tsp. salt, cream of tartar, and egg whites in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks form.  Combine remaining 1 cup granulated sugar and 1/3 cup water in a saucepan; bring to a boil.  Cook, without stirring, until a candy thermometer registers 250*.  Gradually pour hot sugar syrup in a thin stream over egg whites, beating at medium speed, then at high speed until stiff peaks form.
5. Preheat broiler.
6. Spoon curd over crust; top with meringue.  Broil 2 minutes or until golden.

Serves 12

Enjoy this lip-smacking blackberry dessert!

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