When my Amazon book order arrived, I immediately started flipping through pages and flagging recipes.  One of the recipes I flagged was the blackberry curd tart with lemon crème fraîche from In The Sweet Kitchen.  Not only did this recipe sound like a dessert I’d order at one of my favorite fancy restaurants, it also sounded like a challenge trifecta.

And the fact that Driscoll’s Berries had just sent me a stack of coupons for their berries made the timing of making this recipe nothing short of perfect.  Side note:  a Driscoll’s Berries coupon will make the Whole Foods cashier super jealous (this has happened twice now).

After a good bit of pureeing, straining, and whisking, it came to my attention that this recipe wasn’t going to be as difficult as I initially thought.  And then I read the wait times for each component…  2 hours, 4 hours, 24 HOURS!  It was then I realized that the biggest challenge of #bakingbootcamp is not going to be skill or technique, rather it will be time and patience.  Perhaps I should have asked Santa for more patience for Christmas.    

The end result was the most pro dessert I’ve ever made.  The pâte sucrée (pastry) that the recipe described as “fussy, difficult to work with and sensitive” came out buttery, crisp and ready for filling.  The blackberry curd was light, fresh, and slightly sweet.  And the crème fraîche, the darling crème fraîche that I patiently watched for 24 hours, was delicious in an unfair way.  Combining these three mini perfections together produced a dessert package worthy of eating after your finest meal.