Have you ever made a tart pie before? How about a quiche? They really aren’t that difficult. Making the pie dough is the hardest part I think; but even that, with practice, can become a simple task. Tart pies are typically made with various seasonal fruits and berries. Some include a creamy cheesecake-like base that is topped with whole berries.
How this apricot and blueberry tart came to life was by my determination to not waste food. We had some sour apricots in the package that we bought, and every time my little girl bit into one, she wouldn’t eat the rest. I tried to let a few more days go by to see if they would ripen a little more. Some did, most didn’t. Don’t you hate when that happens? I was afraid if I let them sit out longer, they would go bad, so a new recipe emerged from this bunch of unripe apricots.
The results…
A sweet & sour filling with all the flavor of an apricot. A hint of blueberry in every other bite, topped with freshly whipped cream for a sweet balance.
2 teaspoons butter
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup peeled and diced apricots
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 teaspoon water
1 pie dough disc
You will also need four 4″ tart pans with a removable bottom.
In a small sauce pot, melt the butter on medium heat. Once the butter has completely melted, add the brown sugar and stir until the sugar and butter are well combined. This may take up to five minutes.
Add the vanilla extract, continue stirring another minute.
Add the chopped apricots and a light squeeze of fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 tsp) . The lemon juice will help preserve some of the color of the apricots.
I didn’t do this with my first batch and noticed a significant difference with the second batch after having added a little lemon juice. I’ll show you later.
Add a pinch of salt (about 1/8 teaspoon).
And the secret ingredient that I forgot to put (along with the salt) in the ingredients picture. In a small bowl combine 1 teaspoon cornstarch + 1 teaspoon water. Mix the two until the cornstarch has completely dissolved then add it to the apricot filling. Continue cooking on medium heat, stirring often, for another couple minutes.
Turn off the heat, set the pot aside
Try to fit the pie dough into the pan as much as you can by hand. Make sure the bottom doesn’t have any air pockets.
Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the pie dough and use another tart pan to gently press the pie dough into the pan.
Use a fork to poke holes on the bottom of the pie dough to help prevent the pie crust from bubbling up as it bakes in the oven.
Fill the pie shells with your apricot filling and top them with a few blueberries 10-15 is enough. Press them into the filling gently. Bake at 420 degrees for about 25 minutes. Mine took a little under 30 minutes so check the sides of the pie shells after 25 minutes. They should be a light golden brown all around.Notice the apricot tart to the left of the quiche pie? That’s a pie filled with the first batch of filling that I made.
Remember I mentioned the lemon preserving some of the color? That’s what I was talking about. You can tell a difference, right?!Let them cool for a little bit, refrigerate at least half and hour before eating them. This will help the filling firm up.If you have some leftover pie dough, make a quiche with eggs, cream, and whatever other fillings you like. See recipe below for the one I made here.
Remove them from their tart pans and top with whipped cream.
About an hour and a half later, you will be in apricot bliss enjoying the benefits of your hard work, one slow bite at a time.
Now for the leftover pie dough.As always whenever I have leftover pie dough trimmings, I make something else. The first thing I do is scramble through my fridge to see if there is anything I can use. Leftover bacon from Sunday’s breakfast was my inspiration here. What resulted was a fluffy on-the-spot breakfast quiche that will definitely be made again very soon. Here’s what you will need…
1 whole egg + 1 egg white + 1 tbsp heavy whipping cream combined.
Chopped bacon pieces (a little less than 1/4 cup).
Finely grated cheddar cheese (no more than 1/4 cup per pie shell).
Please take note that the pie shell in this picture has fork holes on the bottom. DO THIS for every pie shell that is going into the oven uncooked. It will bubble up if you don’t. I forgot to poke holes on one of them….you’ll see.
Lay some of the bacon pieces onto the pie shell followed by some grated cheese.
Pour the egg and cream mixture over the bacon and cheese. Top it with a little more cheese on top.
Bake at 420 degrees for about 25-28 minutes.
Remember when I said make sure to poke holes at the bottom of the pie shell with a fork? Well, as you can see, I forgot to do that with this one. The others (with fork holes) came out perfect without any air pockets like this one. The filling was perfect though!
Despite the small mistake concerning the pie shell, the eggs fluffed up nicely and the cheese was just the right amount inside and on top, while the bacon added a salty and crunchy element.
I would say these two make a perfect brunch menu. ¿Que no?
