Strawberry-Blueberry-Tarte

This is the first recipe for a tarte that I ever used. I baked the tarte at a friend's apartment that I took care of while she was gone on holiday. I ate it with some vanilla ice cream and it was so good! 

I found the recipe on JamieOliver.com. It was posted by lovely Allora Andiamo years ago and now I can't find it anymore on the website, but I saved it back then, fortunately. 

I just love this tarte. It looks so beautiful with the almond slivers like fallen petals on it, plus it's very delicious and full of summer! Give it a try - you won't regret it! ♡

Ingredients

For the pastry:

• 300g plain flour 
• 140g cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 1 egg yolk 
• Pinch of salt 
• 1 tsp of vanilla bean paste
• Some ice cold water, approx. 5-6 tbsps (see instructions)

For the Filling:

• 350g fresh blueberries
• 200g fresh strawberries, sliced into 1/4's
• approx. 1 heaped tsp of finely grated orange zest
• seeds of 1 small vanilla pod 

To finish:

• 1 small egg
• approx. 2 tbsps of almond slivers for sprinkling 

Method

Pastry:

Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl and add the cold butter and salt.Rub the mixture between your fingers till it resembles breadcrumbs then add the vanilla sugar and the egg yolk. Start adding the water, a little bit at a time, and knead the mixture very gently till the pastry binds together and the edges of the bowl are clean. Don't overmix the pastry otherwise it willll turn out tough once baked. Wrap in some clingfilm and place in the fridge for approx. 30 mins before rolling.

Preheat oven to 180C and grease a 20cm tart tin with a little bit of butter. 

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface, approx. 4-5mm thick. Lay the pastry in your tart tin and trim to size, reserving the left over pastry. Prick it with a fork, line with parchment paper and pour your baking beans over it. Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, remove from the oven and remove baking beans and parchment paper. Allow to cool.

Filling:

In a medium sized bowl, combine the fruits, sugar, orange zest and vanilla then pour into the case.Re-roll leftover pastry and cut into 1.5cm strips. To make a simple lattice topping, place some strips running in one direction (vertically) and top them with the rest of the strips (horizontally). Whisk the egg and brush the pastry with the mixture. Sprinkle with the almond slivers.Bake at 180 degrees for approx. 35-40 mins, until golden. Leave to cool.

Serve with some vanilla ice cream! :D