Tarte aux Fruits Rouges

Fall is here and even though I kept going on and on about how I love Summer, something is also magical about the beauty of Fall season. The leaves are turning from green to yellow or bright red, it is amazing. The weather has turn cold earlier in California this year and we also have a lot of rain, all this makes me long for a cozy couch in front of fireplace with a slice of brownie and a cup of milk (someday...
I just came back from a week trip in Louisiana, to visit M's family. It was quite a relaxing week, that I almost felt unproductive, but it was nice and enjoyable. We definitely got plenty of sleep for sure! I experienced an interesting Thanksgiving tradition in South. Apparently, it is very common to have the Thanksgiving feast in between lunch and dinner, we had ours at 3pm and football game is on all day long. Here in California, I am so used to having a feast during dinner time, so it was interesting to see something different.

Now that I am back, I have to get ready for my next trip. My company is sending me to China for a work assignment ASAP. I will be there for a few months and during that time, I won't be able to bake or post anything. I am trying to go through my back log of posts before I leave, but it will literally be an adventure in China as I don't speak Chinese (despite being one) and they don't speak English. Nice. I guess we will see if I will survive

The sad part is that I won't be here for the holiday, all the Christmas trees and the joy being with your loved ones. Instead, I will be busy working since we will have no break in China for Christmas.

So while I am welcoming the warmth of Fall, I will be talking about the Summer berries I talked about a few months ago.

Every year, I would make a list of what I would like to make when Summer time comes, and they all involved some kind of berries. In reality, when Summer does come, all of a sudden I will have so many plans, travel, birthdays, weddings, BBQ, trying to fit all of them before the warm weather is gone. This is why most of the summer dessert I make might be a little "late" in the season.

Like this one here. I mentioned a few months ago then I bought TONS of sweet raspberries in the market. At $1/box, I was so tempted to just buy the whole thing if I didn't consider the other costumers, but I did bring home 12 boxes full of them! I made brandied raspberries with some, freeze some, eat some, and make this. I am excited about the brandied raspberries (I also made brandied cherries) but it won't be ready until December, this waiting is killing me! I also happily brought home some strawberries, heirloom tomatoes, and other goodies from the market as well.

Seeing the different berries I had, I wanted to showcase them in some form and I immediately thought of this tart I've always wanted to make since last year after seeing this gorgeous post by Adam. He is quite an interesting guy and I enjoy reading his pastry review, if only those pastries are within reach... oh well. His review on Sadaharu Aoki's take on fruit tart exceeds other reviews of the same kind. Alan of the travellingfoodies also made a beautiful rendition of the tart a while back, which made me more eager to replicate it. The components are:

• Pate sucree
• Pistachio creme frangipane
• Vanilla bean creme patisserie
• Assorted berries and a macaron

I don't have Mr. Aoki's recipe, but Adam kindly gave a list of the components and a close up picture of the inside, which makes it easier. I do have pate sucree dough ready in the freezer, so that's ready to be used. Berries, checked. Macarons, checked (I have a couple of pink macaron shells in the freezer as well). All I needed to make was the pistachio creme patisserie, and creme frangipane, which also uses the creme patisserie in it. I used Mr. Hidemi Sugino's recipe for the creme frangipane, and added some pistachio paste to it, pretty straight forward. I made strawberry mousseline cream with the same pastry cream for the strawberry macaron filling.

So here it is, my version of Sadaharu Aoki's Tarte aux Fruits Rouges. I won't be able to tell how it is compared to the original (I am sure that his is far and beyond my version), but in my humble opinion, this tart tasted awesome! And it certainly looked pretty!

I made a different version of tart too with white chocolate mousse I had left from different cake. I pour some of them on half-circle silicon mold and froze them. Both are equally good. One thing I would change in the future for the strawberry tart (this actually comes from the bf, the strawberry connoisseur) is adding a layer of strawberry garniture in the bottom layer to accentuate the strawberry flavor even more. Great Idea!

I still have some summer posts I need to post, but the chocolate craving has kicked in. So far, I've baked brownies, some chocolate-hazelnut cake, and I hope a lot more. Right now, I am just trying to use up some stuff in my fridge before I leave next week. Eeekk..!!