You’ll need:
For the crust
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon heavy cream
For the filling
6 tablespoons lemon juice
6 tablespoons lime juice
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons white wine
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
The berries
3 cups mixed berries (such as blueberries, raspberries and blackberries)
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons white wine
Zest from one lime
What you do – the crust:
Combine the flour, the sugar and the salt. Add the butter, either using a pastry blender or a fork. It’s probably easier to use your fingers, which is one reason why the butter must be chilled – otherwise the heat of your hands will affect the mix.
Add the egg and the heavy cream. This kind of pastry is not like a pie crust. It’s much more forgiving and you don’t have to roll it out. You just press it into the tart pan, using your fingers and making sure it comes up to the top of the pan. This technique – and the butter – give it its wonderful texture.
When you’re working with a tart pan, place it on a sheet pan otherwise, when you pick up the tart pan you may lose the bottom of the pan – and your whole tart!
Prick the dough with a fork to enable the air to escape while the crust is baking. Place a piece of parchment over the dough, and fill it with pie weights. If you don’t have pie weights, you can use dried beans (which, of course, you’ll have to throw away afterwards). The use of weights like this is called ‘blind baking.’ If you didn’t use the weights, the crust would puff up and there’d be no place for the filling. So… if you see the instruction ‘blind bake,’ this is the technique they’re calling for.
Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove the pie weights. Prick some more holes, then bake for 10 more minutes. Before this stage, if the edges are starting to brown, you may want to protect them with some foil.
What you do – the filling:
Whisk the ingredients together and cook for 5 minutes or until thickened. Strain to remove any lumps in the custard, and to remove any pieces of egg which might have been cooked, then cool to room temperature (so that when you add the cream it doesn’t curdle).
Add the whipping cream. Cool the filling to room temperature and fill the pie crust. Bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees. Remove from the oven and cool before the final chilling (two hours).
What you do – the berries
Combine the berries, wine and sugar and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool, so that the berry juices thicken.
Serving the pie!
Zest one lime. Cut the pie into slices, spoon the berries over the slices and garnish with the lime zest.
