Blueberry Cornmeal Shortbread Tart
Published August 11, 2019
- Total Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
FOR THE CRUST AND TOPPING
1 ½ cups/190 grams all-purpose flour
⅓ cup/55 grams cornmeal
⅓ cup/50 grams confectioners’ sugar
¼ cup/55 grams light brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
¾ cup/170 grams unsalted butter (1 ½ sticks), melted and cooled slightly
FOR THE FILLING
1 pound/455 grams blueberries
½ cup/110 grams light brown sugar
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Small pinch of kosher salt
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Step 2
Make the crust and topping: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, confectioners’ sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Add melted butter, then use your hands or a wooden spoon to combine ingredients until no dry spots remain.
- Step 3
Press half of the cornmeal mixture into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom (alternatively, use a 9-inch cake pan or springform pan, lined with parchment), making sure the mixture is evenly pressed on the bottom and about ½ inch up the sides. (Using something large and flat, like the bottom of a measuring cup, will be helpful.) Reserve the remaining mixture.
- Step 4
Make the filling: Toss blueberries, brown sugar, vinegar, flour and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour the fruit into the crust.
- Step 5
Crumble the remaining cornmeal mixture over the blueberries, pressing bits of the mixture together into large clumps as you go, as you would with a crisp or coffee-cake topping.
- Step 6
Bake tart until the blueberry filling is bubbly and thickened, and both the crust and top are nicely browned, 40 to 45 minutes.
- Step 7
Let tart cool completely before slicing into triangles and serving. The tart can be baked up to 2 days ahead and stored tightly wrapped at room temperature or refrigerated (especially if your kitchen is hot or humid).
Private Notes
Comments
Combined everyone's tips for a lightly sweetened tart that's great with powdered sugar on top or with vanilla ice cream. Here is where I netted out with an AWESOME tart. - Parbake at 350 for 10 min - Cut sugar in crust in half (2 tablespoons each of powdered sugar and brown sugar) - Cut sugar in filling to 2.5 tablespoons - Adjusted lemon to 1 tablespoon as there was less sugar to cut through - Used salted butter the second time and cut kosher salt to 1/4 tsp - better consistency SO YUMMY!
I picked about 3 lb of blueberries from our landscape. After the kids consumed many handfuls, I saw this recipe. I had just a tad over one pound, so went for it. The flavor was delicious - albeit on the sweet side - bursting with fruit. Using 1/2 the dough for the topping was clever. With only 2 Tbl of flour, the filling set perfectly. The only fault is I felt the bottom crust was soggy, which can be corrected easily by first blind baking the crust after Step 3, then proceeding. Thanks!
I know this article is all about luscious fresh August fruit, but can I use frozen blueberries and if I can, should I thaw first?
This was amazing. Everyone I served it to agreed that it was the best desert they had ever had. There is something about how the cornmeal makes for a crunchy crust, and the surprising add of vinegar cuts any closing sweetness.
Has anyone froze this tart? I'd like to serve it on Saturday. It's Wednesday, and I plan to pop it in the freezer until Saturday morning. I assume this is ok, and just let it sit at room temp to thaw, uncovered? Newbie here...thanks!
Perfectly delicious way to help use the 20 pounds of blueberries we picked at a local farm; we all LOVED it. I made this gluten-free using gf cornmeal, and Cup4Cup gf flour (use the weight measurements for best results); adding dark brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom to the blueberry filling. I did par bake my crust for about 10 minutes and baked the tart for 55 minutes, as well & it was not soggy. Served with vanilla ice cream. I’ll be eating leftovers for breakfast!

