Happy Monday! How to feel really spring or summer if you don’t crave for one of these fresh berry tarts!

This fresh berry tart is not only beautiful to look at, but very tasty to eat. I am totally addicted to this melt-in-your-mouth pastry cream or custard. It’s so simple to make and it goes perfectly well with the buttery crispy crust and the fresh sweet summer berries.

My kids are berry monsters. They can eat bowls of berries in a split second and still want more. Around this time every year when summer berries are in season, I have to stock up a lot in the refrigerator. So we can make smoothie, milkshake, popsicle or berry tart.

Ingredients (one 7″x 11″ tart):
Short Crust Pastry Dough
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 stick unsalted butter, cut into little cubes, chilled
1 large egg
6 tablespoons heavy cream
Vanilla Pastry Cream
2 cups whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
Garnish
2 cups fresh berries
1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Directions:
Grease a tart pan.
To prepare crust, place flour, salt and sugar in a food processor to mix. Add butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
Mix egg and heavy cream. While the machine is running, pour in the liquid mixture slowly. The dough should hold together when pinched. Add a little more cream if necessary.
Gather dough and form a dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to chill.
Remove the dough from the fridge. Roll it on a floured surface, until around 3mm thick. Line the prepared pan with the rolled dough. Leave a tiny overhang of dough. Use a small kitchen knife to trim the excess and to score the tops of the tart. Freeze it for at least an hour.
Preheat oven to 375F. Line the top with tin foil, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove tin foil. Bake for another 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
To prepare pastry cream, cook milk, vanilla and salt in a saucepan over medium heat to bring the mixture just to a boil. Stir occasionally.
While the milk is cooking, in a bowl whisk together egg and sugar until the mixture becomes pale. Add cornstarch and flour, mix until smooth.
Slowly add 1/3 of milk mixture to egg mixture, whisking continuously. Pour the milk-egg mixture back to the saucepan. Cook over low heat and whisk continuously until the custard is thickened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat.
Pour the custard through the sieve and into a bowl to make it super smooth.
Let cool for 15 minutes. Put a plastic wrap right on top of the cream to prevent skin forming. Refrigerate until cold and set, at least 3 hours or up to 2 days.
To assemble the tart, spoon pasty cream in the tart shell. Top with fresh berries and refrigerate. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top before serving.