Quick! Grab the last of the berries out there and make this oh so summery dessert. This will have your guests beaming with delight, as I was when I finally made this tart, one that's been sitting on the "to bake" list for a couple years. Fresh vibrant summer berries bound together by a sweet, fruit filled, rose wine spiked gelatin.
With gelee desserts being all the rage right now, this berry tart will make you wonder why you haven't been eating more of this seemingly passe category of sweets. Banish your thoughts of Jell-O from your childhood or ,worse, hospital stays: this is high class and down home all at once!
I made this in classic tart form, starting with my go to sweet tart pastry case. Beautiful and perfect, but I think where it really shines is in gelatin molds to make grin worthy individual desserts. What you end up with is everything a simple strawberry tart is in a tidy, glittery package.
If you have a penchant for vintage gelatin molds that you've come across for pennies, this is where they shine. Simply cut pastry into shapes to match the size of your mold and bake. When ready to serve, turn your beaming berries out onto the cookie and enjoy.
They jiggle with delight and reflect like a bowl full of rubies. If you have molds like mine with a handy little indent in the middle, you can't help but fill that with a dainty scoop of vanilla ice cream. Stawberries and cream, you can't go wrong.
Strawberry Gelee Tart/ Beaming Berry Desserts
adapted from Gourmet Magazine.
Crust:
1 - 9 inch prebaked sweet tart crust
OR, for individual portions as pictured, you will need small tin gelatin molds, or custard/tea cups:
Using the recipe in the link above prepare the dough as directed, but instead of pressing into a tart pan, roll out to 1/4 inch thick as if making cookies, which is essentially what you'll be doing. Cut them using a cookie cutter with the same diameter as your mold. Place on baking sheet, 1 inch apart and chill, then make as directed, adjusting the time to about 10-15 min depending on their size. When golden brown, remove from oven and cool on wire rack.
Gelatin:
2 pounds strawberries, quartered or halved, depending on size (raspberries make a beautiful version)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup rose Wine
1 used dried vanilla pod (optional)
1 envelope gelatin
Toss berries, sugar and lemon juice together, gently and leave at room temperature for a half hour. Gently pour the berries into a sieve over a bowl or glass measuring cup. Leave to drain for about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring rose wine, along with a dried used vanilla pod if using, to a boil and boil 1 minute to boil off some of the alcohol.
Once the berries are drained well, add the wine to the juice and then top off with enough cold water to make 2 cups liquid. Taste the liquid and adjust with more lemon juice if too sweet.
Pour liquid into a small saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over top. Leave to soften for 5 minutes. Add any liquid from the berries that accumulates. Bring up to heat until steaming, or just a bare simmer, stirring to dissolve all the gelatin. Remove from heat, pour into another bowl or measuring cup and cool for 15 minutes.
While liquid is cooling fill your tart shell or individual molds with berries until full. Then pour the liquid to the top, making sure berries are submerged. Carefully transfer to the fridge and leave to chill at least 2 hours for small cups and up to 4 for a full tart.
To assemble the individual desserts for serving:
Have a small bowl of warm water ready and dip the molds into the water for about 10 seconds. Wipe with a towel and then turn out on to a cookie base, while carefully using a knife along the edge of the gelatin to release it from the mold. This movement is slight and won't require you to run the knife along the entire edge. SImply insert and remove while tilting and then place completely upside down, give it a few seconds and you should hear a plop.
This is best the day of, but keeps nicely for about 3 days max.
Serving with Vanilla Ice cream is a must!
