I’m writing this post from my phone, sitting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where I decided not to bring my laptop and the house decided not to have super consistent internet. Overall, this is a great feature, because it means I spend much more of my time hiking and biking and reading than looking at a screen. However, when it came time to blog, it did make it a little trickier. 

It also means the formatting may look a little strange, but I’ll fix all that when I’m back with my computer. For now, my WordPress app will have to do.

The other tricky part about blogging is that I’m about 6,500 feet above sea level. For anyone that knows anything about baking at high altitude, you know that my normal procedure of follow a recipe exactly is out of the question. This week I’ve got one that doesn’t change all that much from sea level, but next week be on the lookout for a special high-altitude feature.

This tart recipe was originally my friend Sarah’s idea. We were out hiking around lots of huckleberries and were brainstorming desserts you could make with them. She came up with a tart, but in the end we went with mixed berries, since huckleberries are both hard to come by in stores and pretty expensive.

First, in a food processor, pulse together the flour and salt. Then add the butter and pulse until the texture resembles wet sand. Then, add the water and heavy cream and pulse until dough comes together. Here, I did make an adjustment for the altitude by adding an extra tablespoon of water. However, the recipe reflects sea level quantities. Gather the dough into a disk and wrap in tinfoil. Chill in the fridge for about an hour. When the dough has been chilled, remove it from the oven and roll out into a circle. I improvised and used a wine bottle as a rolling pin, mostly because it was readily available and I couldn’t find the pin. Turn the dough into a pie plate or tart pan, making sure to push into the edges and pierce the bottom with a fork. Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown. This baked closer to 20 minutes because somewhere around 5 minutes in, when I wasn’t looking, my boyfriend shut off the oven thinking it was the stove. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why it wasn’t baking, and thought altitude must have way more of an impact on baking time than I expected. I was relieved to find out that lack of heat was actually the culprit.

Anyways, allow the crust to cool completely. When you’re ready to assemble the tart, whip up the remaining heavy cream with sugar (and whiskey, if you so choose) to taste. This is Sarah showing me how to use an immersion blender. Fill the crust and arrange whatever fruit you want over the top. We’ve got strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and cherries. And that’s all there is to making a quick, light, fruity dessert. Works at sea level and altitude.

Enjoy!

Simple Fruit Tart

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter, chilled and cubed
• 3 tablespoons ice water
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream, chilled
• Pint of heavy cream
• Sugar, to taste
• Sliced fruit and berries

Directions:

1. In a food processor, pulse flour and salt to combine.
2. Add butter and continue pulsing until mixture is the texture of wet sand.
3. Add water and 2 tablespoons of heavy cream. Pulse until dough comes together.
4. Gather dough into a flat disk, wrap in aluminum foil, and chill for an hour.
5. Roll dough out into a circle big enough for a 9 inch pie plate. Press dough into edges of plate and pierce bottom with fork.
6. Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Cool completely.
7. Whip remaining heavy cream with sugar to taste until stiff.
8. Fill crust with whipped cream and arrange fruit on top.