Sour Cherry Tart

Total Time
1 hour 30 minutes, plus 2 hours' refrigeration
Rating
5(193)
Comments
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Gloria Zimmerman picks well-ripened sour cherries from the cherry tree in a friend's yard each summer, pits them and freezes them. Although this tart can be made with sweet cherries, it is better made with sour cherries. The pate brisee recipe is very rich and must be handled with care to make it conform to the tart mold. The unglazed tart should not be refrigerated; it should be served while still lukewarm - difficult to do in a restaurant - with strong coffee.

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Ingredients

Yield:One 11-inch tart

    The Pate Brisee (enough for 1 11-inch Tart)

    • About ¾ cup flour (4 ounces)
    • ½teaspoon sugar
    • teaspoon salt
    • ¾stick (3 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces
    • 3tablespoons ice-cold water

    The Filling

    • pounds sour cherries, pitted
    • 2tablespoons minute tapioca
    • ¾cup sugar
    • ¼teaspoon almond extract
    • ¼cup almonds ground in a food processor with 1 tablespoon sugar
Ingredient Substitution Guide
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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    For the pate brisee, place the flour, sugar, salt and butter pieces in owl and crush the butter into the dry ingredients with the tips of your fingers until combined somewhat but with pieces of butter still visible in the mixture. Add the ice water and stir with a fork just until the mixture holds together. Gather it up, pressing it between your hands to flatten it and make it round, and wrap it in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for one hour.

  2. Step 2

    Rub a small amount of flour into a pastry cloth and roll the dough into a very thin circle, about 12½ inches in diameter. Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and gently fit it into the bottom and up the sides of an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough against the sides of the pan to fill in any holes and make it adhere to the metal. Remove any excess overhanging dough by rolling the rolling pin across the top of the pan. Refrigerate the tart shell for one hour.

  3. Step 3

    Meanwhile, in a bowl combine the cherries, tapioca, sugar and almond extract. Sprinkle the ground almond-sugar mixture in the pastry shell and arrange the cherry mixture on top. Place the tart pan on a cookie sheet and bake in a 400-degree oven for one to one-and-a-quarter hours, until the dough is nicely browned. Unmold and serve with strong coffee.

Ratings

5 out of 5
193 user ratings
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Comments

I don't have an owl for step one. And I'm not sure how I would put the pieces in one if I had one. Does anyone have any tips. I'm going to try this recipe and use a bowl instead.

Forgot to add that I baked it at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.
I used two cans of cherries packed in water for a 9 inch tart.

I made this with canned sour cherries, a 9 inch tart shell, and no ground almonds. It was very good served warm with bourbon vanilla bean ice cream. I sprinkled some sliced almonds on top instead.

Amazing - delicate and a perfect mixture of sweet and tart. I used tart cherries I'd gleaned in the summer and frozen, defrosting before use. I followed the recipe exactly but only had a 9" tart pan. Since other bakers commented on the scant dough and filling, I made the dough and filling as written, and the results perfectly fit the 9" pan. One problem: the minute tapioca didn't dissolve fully, so next time I will heat the macerated cherry juice with the tapioca until dissolved.

I made this in a 9" tart pan and simply pressed the dough into the pan instead of using a rolling pin and it came out great. So many of these NYT recipes are unnecessarily fussy! I used preserved sour cherries in a jar. I followed the advice to heat some of the syrup and dissolve the tapioca in it ahead of time; the filling texture was good. Lastly, I eschewed the almond extract (can't stand it) and flavored the filling with cardamom instead.

I picked more than 12 lbs from my montmorency cherry tree this summer, washed and pitted them, and froze them in sealed bags by oz/lbs needed for specific recipes. This sour cherry tart is brilliant and pastry chef worthy, no changes needed. Everyone raved even without ice cream.

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