Hi everyone! Today I’ll show you how to make these delicious kiwi and blackberry pies. These pies are made up of a crunchy pie crust filled with a smooth vanilla custard cream, and topped with fresh kiwis, blackberries and some dots of chantilly. It’s a very easy recipe to make and perfect for summer time. The recipes of the pie crust and the custard cream come from a famous French pastry chef, Philippe Conticini.
For 12 pies of 10cm diameter:
The pie crust:
- 300g of flour
- 150g of icing sugar
- 150g of butter
- 36g of powdered almond
- 60g of eggs (=one big egg)
- 1,5 pinch of salt
- the zest of two lemons
The custard cream:
- 625mL of semi-skimmed milk
- 150g of honey (or sugar if you prefer)
- 100g of egg yolks (5 egg yolks)
- 20g of flour
- 25g of corn starch
- 50g of butter
- 5g of powdered gelatin
- 2 vanilla beans
- 2 tbsp of vanilla extract
The toppings:
- 13 kiwis
- 400g of blackberries
- 200mL of full liquid cream
- 20g of icing sugar
Let’s begin with the custard cream (it’s better to make it the day before):
1. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the sugar (or honey) until it slightly whitens.
2. Add the sifted flour and the corn starch.
3. In a saucepan, bring to simmering point the milk with the vanilla bean and 1 tbsp of vanilla extract (for more flavour you can let it infuse one night in the fridge)
4. Once the milk have simmered, pour two third of it gradually over the egg mixture while whisking. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat until it boils. When the cream boils, cook for one more minute to remove the flour taste.
5. Remove from the heat and add the very cold butter. When you add the butter cold to a hot mixture, it creates a thermal shock which gives more smoothness to the cream.
6. Put the cream in a pan and wrap it with cling film. The film must touch the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Let it cool down.
Now for the pie crust:
1. In a bowl whisk the softened butter with the icing sugar. Take your butter out of the fridge minimum 1h30 before beginning, it will be easier.
2. Add the eggs, the almond powder and the lemon zest (or orange).
3. On your work surface put the sifted flour and create a well. Add the mixture in the center.
4. With a spatula, bring back the flour to the center and intersect the dough using vertically movements. At first it looks like a crumble but then the dough will come together until forming a nice ball. It takes several minutes. With this method the gluten inside the flour will not be “activated” so your pie crust will be crunchy and not elastic.
5. Finally, mash strongly the dough three or four times on your work surface.
6. Form a ball and refrigerate minimum 30 minutes (you can also make it the day before).
7. Divide the dough into 80g pieces and roll out each one to a 3mm thickness between two parchment papers.
8. Put your dough over your tart ring. Bring the edges inside the ring. With your forefinger press the dough against the wall to create a right angle. Cut the surplus with a knife.
9. Take the scraps and repeat the operations.
10. Prick generously the bottom with a fork and refrigerate 30 minutes or freeze 20 minutes.
11. Cook 10-15min in a 180°C (fan-assissted) preheated oven until the bottom and the edges are perfectly colored.
It’s already time to assemble the pies!
1. For the chantilly, whip the cold liquid cream by increasing gradually the speed. When the cream is almost whipped, add the icing sugar and whip at maximum speed for a few seconds. The cream must be firm enough to stick to the whisk, not more.
2. Take the custard cream out of the fridge, add 1 tbsp of vanilla extract and whip it at maximum speed for a couple of minutes to incorporate a lot of air and make it super light.
3. Cut your kiwis into small cubes.
4. At the bottom of each pies, add some custard cream and spread it evenly.
5. In the center, pipe a dot of chantilly using a fluted nozzle. Add some blackberries around and some kiwis at the outer edge.
Your pies are ready to be served! Refrigerate until the tasting!
Don’t forget to write an email to partage@justonemorecake.com to share your pictures of the recipe and your opinions! I will add them at the bottom of this article.
