Easy Berry Tart

There are two reasons this tart is so easy. First, the crust – made from frozen, all-butter puff pastry. Second the fruit: If you use blackberries, blueberries and raspberries – or any combination of them – no cutting, stemming or pitting is required. (Strawberries are great too, either on their own or included in the mix, but you will have to stem and halve, quarter or slice them. Find a Strawberry Tart Variation at the end of the recipe.) For the mixed-berry tart shown, I used a small (6-ounce) box each of raspberries and blackberries and a large (pint) box of blueberries. It's ideal for entertaining, as you can make the pastry cream one to four days in advance and put the tart together in a jiff.

Dufour Classic Puff Pastry, available at well stocked supermarkets, works well for this recipe; the 14-ounce box contains one (folded) rectangular sheet. Trader Joe's also makes a very good – and much less expensive – all-butter frozen puff pastry but it is only available during the last quarter of the year, though the holidays. The Trader Joe's 18-ounce box contains two (rolled) rectangular sheets which are much smaller, so if you use one of those, you'll use a little more than half the berries.

I have found that the Dufour pastry puffs up enormously when it's baked, even if you prick it all over. Don't be alarmed if it's super high – even in the middle. Because you'll have scored the dough, you can gently press it down before spreading on the pastry cream.

Let the puff pastry defrost overnight in the fridge. In a pinch, you can also defrost it at room temperature, but keep an eye on it -- you want to make sure the dough is pliable but still chilled. If you want to make a smaller tart, cut the pastry in half and use half the berries, but you'll need to make the entire recipe of pastry cream; just save the remainder for another use (it keeps up to four days in the fridge). When you're ready to use it, just give it a few turns with a whisk to loosen it up.

Serves 8 to 12. 

Ingredients

1 box (14 ounces) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

Flour for dusting

Egg wash: 1 egg beaten with a teaspoon of water (optional)