Very Shy Berries

Baked Blackberry Tart... Where are the berries? It was a pleasant surprise! I have never seen frozen blackberries at supermarkets around here, let alone fresh ones. But yesterday I found some fresh blackberries at a small supermarket that I shop at only occasionally. And believe it or not, they were on sale! So there was no way I could resist the temptation. :D My original plan was making an easiest version of blackberry tarts, i.e., store-bought tart shells + custard cream + fresh berries. However, I learned a lesson this summer: I need to be careful when making desserts with fruits that are not completely ripe. So I tasted a little bit of the berries, and, even without looking into a mirror, I knew I had a frown on my face. No sweetness, no flavor, no-nothing. But the ones at the bottom of the container were already going moldy. So that was the reason why they were on sale. Oh well-- supermarket strategy. Anyway, I thought that the blackberries I bought would taste better when baked into sweets, so I finally chose a recipe of baked blackberry tart with almond cream filling. It involved cooking the berries with maple syrup beforehand, which sounded like a “safe” idea to me. The crust turned out OK. The almond cream filling was OK, too. My mistake was being impatient and not cooling the cream filling long enough before topping it with cooked berries. Though it seemed OK at this point (left photo), when the tart came out of the oven, the berries were bashfully hiding in the cream... Taste-wise, I think I liked it, even though I overbaked it a little. But I seem to have a bit of trouble with seeds when eating desserts with blackberries or raspberries baked into them. I had to bite the seeds when I least expected it, and it was a little annoying, to be honest. Categories: Sweets, Bloopers