Husk Cherry Fruit Tart

Instructions

CRUST

• Heat oven to 400°F. Sift or whisk together flour and salt in a small bowl.
• Beat butter in mixer until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Slowly add the lightly beaten egg, beating on low just until incorporated. Add the flour mixture to mixer all at once and mix just until it forms a ball, being careful not to over mix.
• Remove pastry from mixer, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes (or freeze for 10 minutes) until firm.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry into an 11- to 12-inch circle approximately ⅛-inch thick, making sure the pastry is at least 1 inch larger than the pan.
• Transfer crust to the tart pan and press pastry into bottom and up sides of pan with a small floured piece of pastry, being careful not to stretch the dough. Trim excess pastry and prick bottom of dough with a fork to prevent it from puffing up as it bakes.
• Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
• When ready to bake, line the unbaked pastry shell with aluminum foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights, rice, or beans, filling to the top of the pan, evenly distributed. Bake pastry in the center of your preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the crust is dry and light golden brown.
• Remove weights and cool crust completely on wire rack before filling.

PASTRY CREAM

• In a medium stainless steel bowl, combine sugar and egg yolks with a wooden spoon. In separate bowl, sift flour and corn starch together. Add to egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste.
• In a saucepan, combine milk and split vanilla bean (or vanilla extract) on medium heat until boiling. The milk will foam up quickly to the top of pan when done, so watch very carefully.
• Remove milk from heat; add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent the egg from curdling. If you do get some curdling in the mixture, pour through a strainer.
• If using vanilla bean, remove bean, scrape out seeds, and add seeds to egg mixture.
• Pour egg mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. Once it boils, continue to whisk constantly for another 30 to 60 seconds until it becomes very thick and difficult to stir.
• Remove from heat and pour into a clean bowl. Immediately cover with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Allow to cool before assembling tart.
• ASSEMBLY: Gently push the tart straight up and out of the pan. The fluted tart ring will fall away and slide down your arm. You can continue to assemble the tart on top of the metal pan bottom, but to remove the bottom of the pan, run a thin metal spatula or knife between the crust and metal bottom, and transfer the tart shell onto a cardboard cake round.
• Spread a thin layer of melted chocolate over the bottom and sides of the baked tart shell. Let the chocolate glaze set between 20 to 30 minutes at room temperature or stick it in the freezer for a few minutes to quicken the process.
• Spread the pastry cream onto the bottom of the now chocolate-lined baked tart shell, filling about ¾ full. Decorate with fresh fruit, attempting to cover all of the pastry cream with fruit.