Amy Adams as "Julie Powell" and Chris Messina as "Eric Powell in Columbia Pictures' JULIE & JULIA.
In the film “Julie & Julia,” the simple act of pouring chocolate filling into a tart crust is enough to elicit gasps of approval from the audience, sending viewers’ taste buds into overdrive.
If , after seeing the movie, you wanted to create your own version of this decadent looking treat, then look no further for the recipe. Below is an adaptation of the recipe featured in “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” by Julia Child, Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle.
You can choose your own version of the tart crust before topping it — that is, if you don’t eat the cream by itself.
A word of warning: The recipe is lengthy, not because it is difficult, but because Child and her co-authors go into great detail on how to make the various elements as best as can be expected. So, don’t let the length deter you. The end result is worth it.
But reading through the intense detail gives you some idea of Child’s passion as well as the scope of Julie’s Powell’s project of cooking her way through the entire cookbook.
Tartes Sucrées
French dessert tarts, like French entrée tarts and quiches, are open faced and stand supported only by their pastry shells. They should be beautiful to look at.
The Pastry
The pastry for dessert tarts shells is molded and baked in a flan ring or a false-bottomed cake pan so that the shell may be unmolded. You may use either paté brisée sucrée, sweet short paste, which is ordinary short paste with sugar added, or paté sablée, sugar crust, which, besides flour and butter, contains eggs and usually more sugar. We give proportions for both here.
Paté Brisée Sucrée
(Sweet Short Paste)
- For an 8-to 9-inch shell, proportions for 1 1/2 cups flour
- For a 10- to 11-inch shell, proportions for 2 cups flour
Proportions for 1 cup flour:
- 2/3 cup flour (scooped and leveled)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 5 1/2 tablespoons fat: 4 tablespoons chilled butter and 1 1/2 tablespoons chilled
- vegetable shortening
- 2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons cold water
Place the flour in the mixing bowl, mix in the sugar and salt, then proceed to make the dough and mold the shell either by hand or in the food processor.
Hand mixing: Your must train yourself to work rapidly, particularly if your kitchen is warm, so that the butter will soften as little as possible. Use very quick, light finger movements, and do not linger on the dough at all with the warm palms of your hands. A pastry blender may be used if you wish, but a necessary party of learning how to cook is to get the feel of the dough in your fingers.
Place flour, salt, sugar, butter, and vegetable shortening in a big mixing bowl. Rub the flour and fat together rapidly between the tips of your fingers until the fat is broken into pieces the size of oatmeal flakes. Do not overdo this step as the fat will be blended more thoroughly later.
Add the water and blend quickly with one hand, fingers held together and slightly cupped, as you rapidly gather the dough into a mass. Sprinkle up to 1 tablespoon more water by droplets over any un-massed remains and add them to the main body of the dough. Then press the dough firmly into a roughly shaped ball. It should just hold together and be pliable, but not sticky. Proceed to the fraisage.
In a food processor: Measure the dry ingredients into the bowl (equipped with the steel blade). Quarter the chilled sticks of butter lengthwise and cut crosswise into 3/8″-inch pieces; add to the flour along with the chilled shortening. Flick the machine on and off 4 or 5 times, then measure out a scant half cup of iced water. Turn the machine on and pour it all in at once; immediately flick the machine on and off several times, and the dough should begin to mass on the blade. If not, dribble in a little more water and repeat, repeating again if necessary. Dough is done when it has begun to mass; do not overmix it. Scrape the dough out onto your work surface, and proceed to the fraisage.
The fraisage (or final blending): Place the dough on a lightly floured pastry board. With the heel of one hand, not the palm, which is too warm, rapidly press the pastry by two-spoonful bits down onto the board and away from you in a firm, quick smear of about 6 inches. This constitutes the final blending of fat and flour, or fraisage.
With a scraper or spatula, gather the dough again into a mass; knead it briefly into a fairly smooth round ball. Sprinkle it lightly with flour and wrap it in waxed paper. Either place the dough in the freezing compartment of the refrigerator for about 1 hour until it is firm but not congealed, or refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.
Uncooked pastry dough will keep for 2 to 3 days under refrigeration, or may be frozen for several weeks. Always wrap it airtight in waxed paper and a plastic bag.
Rolling out the dough. Because of its high butter content, roll out the dough as quickly as possible, so that it will not soften and become difficult to handle.
Place the dough on a lightly floured board or marble. If the dough is hard, beat it with the rolling pin to soften it. Then knead it briefly into a fairly flat circle. It should be just malleable enough to roll out without cracking.
Lightly flour the top of the dough. Place rolling pin across center and roll the pin back and forth with firm but gentle pressure to start the dough moving. Then, with a firm, even stroke, and always rolling away from you, start just below the center of the dough and roll to within an inch of the far edge.
Lift dough and turn it at a slight angle.
Give it another roll. Continue lifting, turning, and rolling, and, as necessary, sprinkle board and top of dough lightly with flour to prevent sticking. Roll it into a circle 1/8 inch thick and about 2 inches larger all around than your pie pan or flan ring. If your circle is uneven, cut off a too-large portion, moisten the edge of the too-small portion with water, press the two piece of pastry together, and smooth them with your rolling pin.
The dough should be used as soon as it has been rolled out, so that it will not soften.
Making a pastry shell.
- Flan ring
- False-bottomed cake pan
A French tart is straight sided and open faced, and stands supported only by its pastry shell. In France the shell is molded in a bottomless metal flan ring that has been set on a baking sheet. When the tart is done, the ring is removed and the tart is slid from the baking sheet to the rack or the serving dish. You can achieve the same effect by molding your pastry in a false-bottomed, straight-sided, cake pan 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep. When the shell is ready for unmolding, the pan is set over a jar and the false bottom frees the shell from the sides of the pan. It is then, with the aid of a long-bladed spatula, slid off its false bottom and onto a rack or the serving dish. You can also make pastry shells using two matching pie pans; once in a while the weight of the filling will force the outward-slanting sides of the shell to collapse, so we are not recommending it.
Partially baked pastry shells are used for quiches and for tarts whose filling cooks in the shell. Fully baked shells are for tarts filled with cooked ingredients that need only a brief reheating, or for fresh fruit tarts that are served cold.
Butter the inside of the mold. If you are using a flan mold, butter the baking sheet also.
Either reverse the dough onto the rolling pin, and unroll it over the mold; or fold the dough in half, in half again, then lay it in the mold and unfold it.
Press the dough lightly into the bottom of the cake pan, or onto the baking sheet if you are using a flan ring. Then lift the edges of the dough and work it gently down the inside edges of mold with your fingers, taking in about 3/8 inch of dough all around the circumference. This will make the sides of the pastry shell a little thicker and sturdier. Trim off excess dough by rolling the pin over the top of the mold.
Then with your thumbs, push the dough 1/8 inch above the edge of the mold, to make an even, rounded rim of dough all around the inside circumference of the mold.
Press a decorative edge around the rim of the pastry with the dull edge of a knife.
Prick bottom of pastry with a fork at 1/2-inch intervals.
To keep the sides of the pastry shell from collapsing and the bottom from puffing up, either butter the bottom of another mold, weight it with a handful of dry beans, and place it inside the pastry; or line the pastry with buttered, lightweight foil, or buttered brown paper. Press it well against the sides of the pastry, and fill it with dried beans. The weight of the beans will fold the pastry against the mold during the baking.
Refrigerate if not baked immediately.
Bake at the middle level of a preheated 400-degree oven for 8 to 9 minutes until pastry is set. Remove mold or foil and beans. Prick bottom of pastry with a fork to keep it from rising. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes more, or until the shell is very lightly browned.
Unmolding: When the shell is done, unmold it and slip it onto a rack. Circulation of air around it while it cools will prevent it from getting soggy.
Pate Sablée
(Sugar Crust)
Sugar crusts are particularly good with fruit tarts. They are more delicate than sweet short paste shells because of their eggs and additional sugar. The more sugar you mix in, the more difficult it is to roll and mold the pastry because it is sticky and breaks easily; the larger proportion of sugar, however, makes a delicious crust, actually a cookie dough.
The following directions are for making the pastry by hand. Food processor directions are the same for regular short paste dough.
For a 9- to 10-inch shell:
- 1 1/2 cups flour (scooped and leveled)
- 3 to 7 tablespoons sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon double-action baking powder
- 7 tablespoons fat: 5 tablespoons chilled butter and 2 tablespoons chilled vegetable shortening
- A 3-quart mixing bowl
- 1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- A pastry board
- Waxed paper
Place the flour, sugar, butter, vegetable shortening, and baking powder in the mixing bowl. Rub the fat and dry ingredients together rapidly with the tips of your fingers until the fat is broken into bits the size of small oatmeal flakes. Blend in the egg and vanilla, and knead the dough rapidly into a ball. Place on the pastry board and with the heel of your hand, not the palm, rapidly press the pastry by two-spoonful bits down on the board and away from you in a firm, quick smear of about six inches. The dough will be quite sticky if you have used the full amount of sugar. Form again into a ball, wrap in waxed paper, and chill for several hours until firm.
Mold the pastry in a flan ring or false-bottomed cake pan. Work rapidly if you have used the full amount of sugar, as the dough softens quickly.
Sugar crusts must be watched while in the oven as they burn easily if the full sugar proportions have been used. Because the dough is collapsible until it has firmed in the oven, it is essential that the dough be held in place against the sides of the mold by lining of foil and beans or a bean0filled mold, as detailed in the directions for molding in the recipe for the previous crust.
Bake the sugar crust shell in the middle level of a preheated, 375-degree oven for 5 to 6 minutes until the dough is set. Then remove the lining, prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork in several places, and bake for 8 to 10 minutes more. The shell is done when it has shrunk slightly from the mold and begins to brown very lightly. Immediately remove the mold from the shell and slip the shell onto a rack. It will become crusty as it cools.
Note: Leftover dough, securely wrapped, will keep for several days in the refrigerator or may be frozen.
Crème Patissere
(custard filling)
This custard is also made of egg yolks, sugar and milk, but unlike crème anglaise, it contains flour so it may be brought to a boil, and is much thicker. The proportions of flour vary according to the use of the filling; the following recipe is designed as a base for fruit tarts. With the addition of beaten egg whites it becomes a crème Saint-Honore and may be used as a filling for cream puffs, or may be mixed with fruit to make a quick dessert.
For about 2 1/2 cups.
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 5 egg yolks
- A 3-quart mixing bowl
- A wire whip or electric beater
Gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks and continue beating for 2 to 3 minutes until the mixture is pale yellow and forms the ribbon.
- 1/2 cup flour (scooped and leveled)
Beat in the flour.
Beating the yolk mixture, gradually pour on the boiling milk in a thin stream of droplets.
- A clean, heavy-bottomed 2 1/2 quart, enameled sauce-pan
- A wire whip
Pour into a saucepan and set over moderately high heat. Stir with wire whip, reaching all over bottom of pan. As sauce comes to a boil it will get lumpy, but will smooth out as you beat it. When boil is reached, beat over moderately low heat for 2 to 3 minutes to cook the flour. Be careful custard does not scorch in the bottom of pan.
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 3 ounces or squares of semisweet baking chocolate melted with 2 tablespoons rum or coffee and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Remove from heat and beat in the butter, then chocolate mixture. If the custard is not used immediately, clean it off the sides of the pan, and dot top of custard with softened butter to prevent a skin from forming over the surface. Crème Patissiere will keep for a week under refrigeration, or may be frozen.
John Griffin and Cecil Flengte contributed to this report.
Photo By: Jonathan Wenk (Sony/Columbia Pictures)
