Recipe: Patriotic Tart

I have been meaning to make some of the King Arthur Flour Blitz Puff Pastry that we learned how to make at the Blog & Bake, and I thought that something festive for Independence Day would be just the thing.  (We also celebrate my sister's birthday on the 4th, so that's an added bonus).

I know, only 9 stripes, not 50 stars... representational flag

This post is more to show you the method I used, and to share pretty pictures (thank you to my friend with her fancy camera who took most of the pictures, since mine ran out of batteries...)  I used the recipes straight from King Arthur Flour.

Fast & Easy Puff Pastry
Vanilla Pastry Cream

And then berries.  Such pretty berries.

After chilling the blitz puff pastry dough, I rolled it into a large rectangle and cut the edges straight, then used the scraps to form an American flag shape over it, attaching the strips with a little bit of water.  I then baked the pastry shell at 400 F for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. 

While it was baking, I made the pastry cream.  This was a lot of whisking.  A LOT of whisking.  I was sure it would never thicken.  (I did not fold in the extra whipped cream in the recipe, because I wanted it to be thick for the tart topping)  The pastry cream didn't actually thicken up properly until it had been refrigerated for a couple hours.  I thought I was going to have to attempt to rescue it by putting pudding mix into it.  I was really happy that wasn't necessary.

Onto the cooled pastry shell, I spread a thin layer of the pastry cream.  Then, I made an American flag design with the berries. 

And oh, it was delicious.