Dessert Crackers with Custard and Blackberries

What happy things accidents can be! I've been trying to find an easy and 'perfect' way of baking little tart shells because I wanted to make Lucie's Buttertarts for Linda for her birthday. I still haven't succeeded in making the little shells (an ongoing project until I can crack the code, sans the troublesome pie weights), but one of the accidents in my attempts was that they just baked into flaky delicious disks. The following is what I made with them.

1 recipe Cookie Pie Crust

2 recipes Pastry Cream

80 to 90 blackberries

¼ cup chopped 70% dark chocolate

1. Start the Cookie Pie Crust to make the dessert cracker base.
2. While the dough is cooling, prepare the Pastry Cream up to step 5, then set aside.
3. When you've rolled out the dough, cut into disks - I use the top of a standard round plastic container, like a yoghurt container lid, for my cutting shape.
4. Arrange the disks on a large cookie sheet to blind bake, as per the instructions in the recipe, except lightly place a second cookie sheet on top. This will prevent the dough from puffing up excessively. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the top cookie sheet and bake another 5 minutes or until the crackers start to lightly brown.
5. Allow the crackers to cool completely. 
6. Finish the Pastry Cream by following step 6 of the recipe which is to whisk in the heavy cream.
7. Assemble the crackers by evenly distributing the Pastry Cream in dollops onto the crackers; arrange the blackberries on top of the cream and lightly press into the cream.
8. In a double boiler melt the chocolate and drizzle lightly over the loaded crackers. 
9. You can either wait for the chocolate to set, or serve with the chocolate still semi-liquid. 
10. Have napkins at the ready - it's easy to get smeared with the chocolate!

Crème pâtissière - Pastry Cream

I've seen other pastry cream recipes call for whipped cream instead of liquid cream. I've tried this, and it is a tasty variation but it also changes the texture, making it much lighter. In most of the recipes I use this for, a thicker, more unctuous texture is preferable.

1 cup milk
2 tsps. vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
¼ cup (50g) sugar
2 Tbsps. (16g) flour
¼ cup heavy cream (option: whipped cream)

1. Put the milk in a saucepan. Heat to a simmer, remove from heat, add vanilla, cover, and set aside to cool about 10 minutes. 
2. Whisk the yolks with the sugar until pale, then whisk in the flour. 
3. Gradually whisk the milk into the sweet egg mixture. 
4. Pour this back into the saucepan and, whisking constantly, bring to a boil, turn off the heat and cook, whisking, one minute. Remove from the heat. 
5. Strain into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to cool. 
6. When chilled, stream the cream in and mix with whisk until smooth.
7. OR, if you want a lighter cream, first whip the cream then gently fold in.

Pommes de terre en omelette (Potato omelette)

Although this is a simple recipe, it requires about an hour to complete, since each ingredient can only be cooked when the previous is done. It is a delicious brunch item.

A few strips of bacon (4oz/120gr) cut into lardons or paper clip-size pieces
1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter 
1 onion, chopped (6oz/170gr)
1 clove garlic, chopped
Splash of balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp (½ oz/14gr) butter (yes, another one)
4 medium potatoes (about 2lbs), peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
5 eggs
½ tsp salt
Pepper, to taste

1. Heat a cast iron pan at a medium-high temperature. Cook the bacon until just starting to brown. With a slotted spoon, remove the meat and reserve in a medium sized bowl.
2. Lower the temperature to medium, add a Tbsp of butter, and slowly cook the onion until soft and translucent. This will take a while, maybe something like 20 minutes. For the last minute of cooking, add the garlic. Strain out and add to the bacon bowl for set aside.
3. Splash the balsamic vinegar in the hot oil and cook until the spitting and bubbling almost ceases - this is when most of the extra water will have been cooked away.
4. Add the potatoes with another Tbsp of butter and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until it is soft and starts to brown.
5. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs, add the salt and pepper.
6. When the potatoes are cooked, use a slotted spoon to remove from the pan and pop into the bowl with the bacon and onion. Pour out all but 1 or 2 Tbsps. of bacon fat. 
7. Put the bacon, onion and potato back in the pan, stir to mix well, and then pour the egg on top, settling everything with the back of the spoon to make an even surface. 
8. Cover and cook at a low temperature until the egg sets, but the surface remains a little soft or runny or, conversely, cover and bake in the oven at 350°F until set.
9. Serve with cornbread muffins and a fresh salad or pickled onions and beets.