Blueberry Almond Tart with Streusel Topping for Grace

Grace's Blueberry Almond Birthday Tart

It's a cold, rainy, and all around miserable weekend throughout Texas--the kind of days you just want to stay in your Pj's and thick, warm socks, park yourself in front of the fireplace, watch movies and drink tea until it's wine hour. No one wants to venture outside, especially puppy Newt. All I really want to do is turn on my gas oven and bake something warm and yummy. Probably should have gone to the store before this winter storm arrived yesterday. My pantry is depleted of fresh fruit, but I found a few cans of pre-baked apple slices that were intended for Southern fried pies--don't be a snob now--that's how my mother and grandmother made them and they were wonderful. Lucky for me, I discovered a container of frozen blueberries for smoothies in the back of the freezer. What to bake was easy...blueberry almond tart with streusel topping. 

 

I thank my sweet friend Grace for discovering this easy but tasty tart recipe. Grace is my LOVE cookie decorating helper-in-training. We have spent many hours together writing cursive "love" on hundreds of heart cookies for various weddings throughout the year. She is a baker at heart and has an eye for piping royal icing. 

Baker at heart--and cookie decorator in training.

love, love, love...

and more love--175 cookies to be exact.

Grace prefers fruit desserts--especially anything made with blueberries. I made this tart as a surprise for her birthday last year. I have lots of pie and muffin recipes using blueberries, but I wanted something that also included almonds. I searched online and found this recipe from Bon Appétit in 1992. Fellow blogger, Rebecca of beurrista.blogspot.com, posted her new version in 2010 and it was exactly what I had in mind. She adjusted the butter/shortening ratio, added almond extract, and pre-baked the shell. I found the original 1992 BA in my collection of old food magazines. There are just certain treasures of my kitchen library that I just can't throw out.

So I made my blueberry almond tart with struesel topping without going out in the freezing rain or driving on the icy roads. For some reason people in Texas think they can drive on ice. I lived on the East Coast long enough to know better. Ice and cars don't mix. Lucky for me, I found a small container of Blue Bell vanilla ice cream in the freezer also. Sweet!

The kitchen is toasty and scented of cinnamon and almond. Now for a slice of blueberry almond tart, with a tiny scoop of vanilla ice cream and a cup of hot tea. Fireplace going--snuggled up with puppy and an afghan--season 3 of House of Cards on Netflix...yea life is good. Promise I'll save you a piece Gracey.  

Simple ingredients for a tasty almond filling
--butter, sugar, flour, almonds, egg, vanilla and almond extract.

Roll the dough onto parchment paper and turn into tart pan.

Pre-bake tart shell.

    Place butter, egg, flour, vanilla, almond extracts into food processor.

Pulse until well blended.

Spread filling in pre-baked shell.

Blueberries on top...

Make streusel topping with brown sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon--yum.

Top the berries with streusel mixture...

Bake for about an hour in a 375° oven.

Hot out of the oven and ready for a scoop of Blue Bell.

Blueberry Almond Tart with Streusel Topping
recipe adapted by Rebecca of beurrista.blogspot.com
 

For Crust:

1½ cups flour

3 tablespoons sugar

pinch of salt

8 tablespoons butter, cut in ½-inch pieces and chilled

4 tablespoons chilled vegetable shortening

about 6 tablespoons ice water

For Filling:

1½ cups blanched and slivered almonds

¾ cup sugar

½ cup butter, room temperature

1 tablespoon flour

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ teaspoon almond extract

For Topping:

6 tablespoons flour

6 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3 tablespoons butter, cut into ½-inch pieces

3 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, thawed and drained

 

For Crust:

Blend the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and the shortening and cut in with the pulse button until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Blend in the water 1 tablespoon at a time, enough to bind the dough. Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least one hour, or up to one day ahead.

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Roll out the dough onto lightly floured parchment paper to about 13 inches. This is a sticky dough, so the flour will help it release. Transfer to an 11-inch tart pan, with removable bottom. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, until it has lost the raw look but is not brown.  If the crust has puffed a bit, gently pat it down.

 

For Filling:

Finely grind the almonds with sugar in the processor. Add the butter, egg, flour, vanilla and almond extracts.  Blend well.

For Topping:

Mix the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the butter using your fingertips.

Spread the filling into the pre-baked crust. Smooth it out. Top with blueberries and sprinkle the topping over the fruit.  

Place the tart on a cookie sheet and bake until the crust is golden and the filling is set, about an hour.