Food

Classic Blueberry Tart With Lemon Curd Recipe

Written by MasterClass

Last updated: Apr 9, 2023 • 8 min read

Serve this elegant blueberry tart in early summer, when the berries are fresh and bright with flavor.

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What Is a Blueberry Tart?

A blueberry tart is a composed dessert consisting of a shortcrust tart shell, pastry cream, and fresh blueberries. A blueberry tart may incorporate other elements such as lemon curd, jam, and fresh herbs, as well as a finishing glaze known as a nappage, which gives the tart an appealing glossy look.

Serve a blueberry tart on its own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

5 Tips for Making a Blueberry Tart

The individual components of a blueberry tart are simple, but each one requires attention and finesse. Here’s what to know.

  1. 1. Use fresh blueberries. For best results, use in-season blueberries for a blueberry tart. Frozen blueberries turn soggy and unattractive on an unbaked fruit tart, so save them for baked blueberry-based pastries like blueberry pie, blueberry galette, or blueberry crumble.
  2. 2. Chill the tart shell before baking. If your dough starts to feel warm and loses its shape, return it to the fridge for 15 minutes. Chilling the dough allows the gluten to rest. Dough that’s too warm or overworked will cause the finished product to shrink while baking.
  3. 3. Cool completely before assembly. Always make sure your tart shell is thoroughly cooled before you start assembling any cream-based tarts. If the shell is still too hot or warm when you pipe in your pastry cream, you’ll end up with a soggy-bottomed tart.
  4. 4. Warm the nappage before applying. When you’re ready to glaze, microwave the glaze until it’s hot and liquidy, so it’ll be easy to evenly brush onto the fruit (you may add a little water to loosen it up if it’s too thick). If it looks slightly separated, use a hand blender to blitz it together.
  5. 5. Make mini tartlets. Instead of making one large nine-inch tart, try making six individually portioned four-inch tartlets. The tart shells will have a shorter baking time, but you will make the lemon curd, pastry cream, and nappage the same way.

Classic Lemon-Blueberry Tart Recipe

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makes

1 9-inch tart or 6 4-inch mini tarts

prep time

10 min

total time

1 hr 10 min

cook time

1 hr

Ingredients

For the tart shell:

For the lemon curd:

For the pastry cream:

For the clear fruit glaze (nappage):

For assembling the blueberry tart:

Note: The total time does not include 1 hour 30 minutes of inactive time.

Make the tart shell:

  1. 1

    In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the confectioners’ sugar and butter for 30 seconds at low speed.

  2. 2

    Add the egg, scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, and mix at medium speed until evenly combined.

  3. 3

    Working on a cutting board, press the vanilla bean flat, then use the tip of the paring knife to halve it lengthwise, from tip to tip. Scrape the seeds from the center of each half and set them aside.

  4. 4

    In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, and salt.

  5. 5

    With the mixer on low speed, stir in the flour mixture and vanilla bean seeds until just combined and no more dry patches are visible, about 10 seconds more.

  6. 6

    Finish mixing the dough by hand to avoid overmixing. The dough should be creamy, smooth, and have the consistency of cookie dough.

  7. 7

    Transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper on your work surface and sandwich it with another sheet of parchment paper, flattening it into a 1-inch thick disk.

  8. 8

    Transfer the dough disk to a sheet pan or baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, 30 minutes.

  9. 9

    Liberally flour the work surface and a rolling pin.

  10. 10

    Unwrap the dough and transfer it to your work surface. Roll the dough out into a rectangle about an ⅛-inch thick. (Work fast, so the dough doesn’t get too warm.)

  11. 11

    Place the dough sheet on a sheet pan and loosely cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

  12. 12

    Remove the dough from the refrigerator and slide the dough sheet to a work surface. (Peel off the layers of parchment paper if using.)

  13. 13

    Using the outer ring of a 9-inch tart pan as a guide, cut a circle from the center of the dough sheet that is 1 inch wider than the outside of the ring so that the dough round will be big enough to come up the sides.

  14. 14

    Lightly grease the inside of the tart ring.

  15. 15

    Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and place the tart ring at the center of the pan.

  16. 16

    Place the dough round on top of the ring. Push down gently with your fingers and press the dough along the inside of the ring, making sure to get into the inside edges. It’s important not to press too hard here and give the shell an even thickness so that it doesn’t bake unevenly.

  17. 17

    Use a paring knife to trim the excess dough hanging over the edge of the ring.

  18. 18

    Return the pan to the refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes.

  19. 19

    While the tart shell chills, place a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

  20. 20

    Blind bake the tart shell. Line the tart shell with parchment paper or a large coffee filter, so the surface of the dough is completely covered. Fill the shell with pie weights, rice, or dried beans.

  21. 21

    Bake the tart on the center rack until it’s a light golden, sandy color and there are no wet spots underneath the parchment, about 15–20 minutes. Remove the pie weights and parchment from the pan.

  22. 22

    Return the tart to the oven and bake without the weights for another 8–10 minutes.

  23. 23

    Rotate the pan 180 degrees and bake until the tart shell is a light golden brown, about 5 more minutes.

  24. 24

    Unmold the tart shell while it’s still warm (a tart pan with a removable bottom makes this much easier). Let it cool completely at room temperature.

Make the lemon curd:

  1. 1

    In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks together.

  2. 2

    In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk the sugar, salt, cornstarch, lemon zest, lemon juice, thyme leaves, and water.

  3. 3

    Cook the mixture over medium-low heat, whisking, until hot (135 degrees Fahrenheit).

  4. 4

    Increase the heat to medium and cook until the custard is thick, about 3 more minutes.

  5. 5

    Reduce the heat to low.

  6. 6

    Temper the egg yolks by slowly streaming a few spoonfuls of the hot curd into the yolks.

  7. 7

    Slowly add the egg yolk mixture to the saucepan, whisking constantly.

  8. 8

    Increase the heat to medium and cook the mixture until thickened, about 2 more minutes.

  9. 9

    When the curd begins to bubble, whisk continuously for 2 minutes.

  10. 10

    Remove the curd from the heat and whisk in the butter.

  11. 11

    Strain the curd through a fine-mesh sieve, using a rubber spatula to push as much of the custard through the strainer as possible.

  12. 12

    Use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container or bowl covered in plastic wrap.

Make the pastry cream:

  1. 1

    In a large pot over medium heat, bring the milk and half of the sugar to a boil, slowly stirring to prevent the mixture from burning on the bottom of the pot.

  2. 2

    In a medium bowl, whisk together the other half of the sugar with the egg yolks.

  3. 3

    Stir in the cornstarch until smooth, then slowly whisk in a ½ cup of the warm milk and sugar mixture, stirring until evenly combined.

  4. 4

    While stirring, pour the egg mixture back into the pot of milk.

  5. 5

    On low to medium heat, while stirring constantly, heat the mixture until it noticeably thickens and you can no longer taste raw cornstarch, about 5 minutes. Look for the foam on the top of the custard to start disappearing. This is a sign that the custard is almost ready. (It will continue to thicken as it cools.)

  6. 6

    Remove the custard from the heat and allow it to cool to room temperature, whisking occasionally.

  7. 7

    Add in the cubed butter and whisk until evenly combined.

  8. 8

    Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl to remove any lumps.

  9. 9

    Cover with plastic wrap pressed up against the surface of the pastry cream to prevent skin from forming, and refrigerate until ready to use.

Make the clear fruit glaze:

  1. 1

    In a medium pot, bring half of the sugar and all of the water to a boil.

  2. 2

    In a medium bowl, whisk the other half of the sugar with the pectin.

  3. 3

    Once the syrup is boiling, sprinkle the sugar-pectin mixture into the syrup, constantly whisking until dissolved.

  4. 4

    Continue boiling the syrup, continually whisking to dissolve and activate the pectin, about 3–4 minutes.

  5. 5

    Remove the syrup from the heat and let it cool to room temperature.

  6. 6

    Pour the nappage into an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use, up to 1 week. Before using, microwave the glaze in 10-second increments until it reaches a liquid consistency.

Assemble the blueberry tart:

  1. 1

    Place the tart shell on a cake stand or cardboard cake circle.

  2. 2

    Spoon the lemon curd into a plastic piping bag, and twist the open end to close. Snip the tip off the bag and pipe the curd in a spiral pattern, filling the tart base. (You will have leftover curd).

  3. 3

    Fill a second piping bag with the pastry cream, and pipe the pastry cream in a spiral pattern over the curd.

  4. 4

    Arrange the blueberries along the entire tart to cover the pastry cream as best as possible. Start with the berries in a single layer over the cream, then top off as needed.

  5. 5

    Gently brush the warmed glaze over the berries in a thin, delicate layer.

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