Patriotic Berry Tart

A friend of mine is having people over for a cookout today in celebration of the fourth of July. He is making three different kinds of meat (wings, pork loin, and beef kabobs) and asked for all of his guests to bring a side dish. I decided to bring a dessert since this yummy course is sometimes forgotten. And, with all of the yummy summer fruit available I decided to try my hands at making a tart. In the honor of our national colors I did blueberries and strawberries. The best part about this tart is that you simply fold up the edges. This gives it a lovely rustic, down-home look. Also, I tasted it and it is oh-so yummy!

You need to make the dough a little ahead of time, in order for it to chill for an hour in the fridge before you roll it out.

Ingredients:

Dough-

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled
• 1/2 cup cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons corn meal
• 2-4 tablespoons ice water
• 1/4 cups chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup crumbled cookie

Filling-

• 1 1/2 cups blueberries
• 1 1/2 cups strawberries, slice in half
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/8 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cardamom

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine flour and corn meal. Cut butter and cream cheese into about 1 inch cubes, still making sure it is cold/chilled. Add to flour. Use a pastry tool or fork to combine until it becomes crumbly, Slowly add ice water (only enough as needed to make dough). You can do this in a food processor if you like. Quickly press mixture into dough ball and form into circular disc. Wrap in saran wrap and chill in fridge for at least one hour.

After dough has chilled, place fruit into a bowl with juice, brown sugar and cardamom. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Stir and let sit while you roll out dough. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface. It should be fairly thin, maybe 1/8 an inch and have a diameter of roughly 1- 1 1/2 feet. Carefully fold into half and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle crushed cookie and pecans onto bottom (leaving a 2 inch margin all around for folding). This will help absorb extra fruit juices and keep bottom of crust dry. Next spoon berries on top of cookie and nuts. Throw out extra juices in bowl. Fold edges over (won't be perfect). Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown and fruit is bubbly.