We found such beautiful strawberries at the Ecotrust Farmers Market today, before the storm started. It seemed appropriate to bring back this post, which was originally written on June 26th 2008. This tart is beautiful, delicious, and really fun to make with kids of all ages.
Oregon strawberries are everywhere, especially at the farmers markets. Sold in flats (12 pints) and oh so hard to resist. Which provokes the seasonal question of 'just how much shortcake can I really eat?'. Now some of you might raise your eyebrows at that question, while you spoon up the last of your strawberry shortcake breakfast, not missing a drop of whipping cream. I respect your abilty to focus, singlemindedly, on one way to consume the bounty of the season.
The flat we purchased at the Saturday Farmers Market is gone now. Consumed fresh on the way home, as part of the aforementioned shortcake, cut and sugared, sent in lunch boxes to camp, and given as hostess' gifts.
And the berries that we buy this evening at the Ecotrust Market? With any luck they'll make their way into our favorite strawberry tart. This is a great tart to make with kids, and can be executed beautifully by novice bakers, or taken up a notch by experts. Here's how it goes:
Kids and adults wash their hands, and clean and de-stem a pint or two of beautiful ripe strawberries.
Prepare your favorite pie or tart crust. Graham cracker, purchased frozen, made by hand. All will work just fine. You only need a bottom crust for this recipe. Bake it and let it cool.
Melt a cup of chocolate (semi-sweet chips or broken up bars) with 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and 3 tablespoons of water. You can do this on the stove or microwave, just be very very careful as the chocolate will melt sooner than you think, at about 98.6 degrees. That being one of its charms. Stir gently, gently, til ingredients are just mixed.
Spoon the chocolate mixture into the tart. Kids love to help with this part. While the chocolate is still warm, press the berries, cut side down and pointy side up, into the chocolate in concentric rings. Kids love to help with this part, too. Let it cool in the fridge until you can slice it, if you can wait that long.
You can vary this recipe using different crusts, or adding cream to the chocolate mixture, or adding liqueurs to the chocolate, or making a glaze to coat the berries. Enjoy!
For the farmers market location nearest you, visit the Portland Farmers Market website.
