August 15th was Julia Child’s birthday. Many of us grew up watching her shows, moved by her enthusiasm for food  and the joy teaching people to cook brought her. The Way To Cook is my mothers go to cookbook even now, over 20 years after it was published.  We watched her cooking on her own in Dinner at Julia’s, we saw her marvel at dishes created by others in Cooking with Master Chefs, and we saw her tease and joke with Jacques Pepin in Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home (Jacques is another go to at my parents house).

In honour of her birthday I made a recipe from Baking with Julia ; the tart that made Julia cry. The recipe is actually a Nancy Silverton recipe, and you can watch them make it here. The tart really is wonderful, I can understand how a bite of it could bring tears of joy to Julia’s eyes.

Brioche Custard Tart

• 1/3 of dough from Golden Brioche
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 nectarines, sliced
• 1/2 cup strawberries
• 2 cups white wine
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5 or 6 basil leaves

1. After chilling the brioche dough overnight, roll it out to fit in a pie plate, with about an inch of dough overhanging. Fold the overhang into the pie shell to create an edge.  Let rise uncovered for 1 hour.
2. While the dough is rising, whisk the cream and egg yolks together.
3. Once the dough has risen, dimple the bottom of the dough (don’t create holes, just dents) and pour the cream mixture in.
4. Sprinkle the cream with sugar.
5. Preheat the oven to 300, then bake the tart for 30 to 40 minutes until brioche is cooked and custard has set.
6. Let cool completely.
7. While the tart is cooling bring the wine to a boil. Add the sugar and basil leaves. Add the fruit and simmer for a few minutes, just until the fruit is slightly softened. Strain fruit.
8. Place fruit on tart.

Bon appétit!