Monday, June 9, 2008

Strawberries, boysenberries, or both?

Berry season is in full-swing here in California. And, with perfect timing, Marie of A Year in Oak Cottage, selected La Palette’s Strawberry Tart for this week’s TWD. The tart is wonderfully delicious – who cares about the filling here, when the crust itself is so divine! Ah, but part of the challenge is to utilize the season’s bounty.


First of all, one of my dear friends asked me to take a huge basket of boysenberries, freshly picked from her garden. So, I thought, Great! I’ll make my tart with boysenberries. And, not only did she give me the freshest berries, but she Forced Upon Me (Forced! I repeat!) homemade boysenberry jam. Was she psychic? Did she know we needed both berries and jam? How could I refuse? So, round one tarts were filled with boysenberries. **




It turned out that there were only enough boysenberries for 2 ½ tarts, but I still had 4 of the tasty darlings sitting on the counter. What to do?


Early Saturday morning (after the crazy dog woke me at 5 am), I raced down to the Farmers Market and bought a pint of fresh strawberries for $2.50. Round two brought forth the strawberry tarts. Still delicious.




But, now, there were still two tart shells left and a smattering of red and black berries. So, it was on to round three: a mélange of strawberries and boysenberries, with the yummy boysenberry jam underneath. Triple delicious.




For all the tarts, I sweetened some sour cream and placed a dollop on top. It was just the right amount of tartness to balance the sweetness of the tart.



Great choice, Marie! Truth be told, I didn’t even miss the chocolate this week.


Be sure and visit the other TWD sites to see some out-of-this-world fruit tarts.



** Oh, and all she wants in return is some homemade bread. ; )

20 comments:

Engineer Baker said...

*jealous* I'll bake her bread for some homemade boysenberry jam!

Unknown said...

This week's recipe is really making me miss California and its long berry season! Lovely tarts.

Anonymous said...

Oh Wow! Your tarts look absolutely delicious!!!

CB said...

I bet the dual berry variation was YUMMY! Great job!
Clara @ I♥food4thought

Jules Someone said...

Man, I wish I had friends like yours! Your tarts look gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

Oh, how I long to live in California again, where things like boysenberries actually grow on their own. Those tarts look so good........

Susie Homemaker said...

oh yum...you did a great job! how jealous I am!

Anonymous said...

Boysenberries! We can barely get raspberries right now. So jealous!

Anonymous said...

Boysenberry sounds very interesting.

Anonymous said...

Your tart looks delicious! I love the combination of berries!

Gretchen Noelle said...

How wonderful to get fresh fruit and homemade jam forced upon you!

Christine said...

I love boysenberries and you got jam too how lucky you are! What wonderful tarts you made! Great job!

Heather B said...

yum! They all look so delicious! Great job!

Dolores said...

I love your beautiful deep blue boysenberry tarts. Great job!

kimberly salem said...

ooh, boysenberries! delicious, and very pretty tarts :)

Anonymous said...

Boysenberry jam sounds divine! Beautiful tarts!

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Shari@Whisk: a food blog said...

Wow, you're lucky to have the freshest berries AND homemade jam for this dessert!
Shari@Whisk: a food blog

Mari said...

I like your friends! Anyone who force homegrown berries and homemade jam on you, has got to be lovely!

Jaime said...

you are so lucky to be in CA with such fresh fruits! i love the strawberry with boysenberry tart! :)