Fresh Blueberry Tart

Derek's book dinner. November 6, 2021. Charleston, South Carolina. And baby, this is the night I want to remember when everything else fades.

Kayla drove me to Charleston — two hours, the windows down for part of it, the marsh smell from the highway mixing with the Lowcountry air. Derek's restaurant is on King Street, small, elegant, the kind of place that serves food on real plates and puts flowers on every table. He named it "Heron" — after the great blue herons that stand in the Lowcountry marshes, still and watchful, waiting for the right moment. Like a good cook.

Fifty people in the dining room. Each place setting had a copy of the book and a jar of Pearl hot sauce. The menu card listed five courses with the chapter titles from the book beside each dish. My face was not on a poster this time — it was on a menu. In a restaurant. In Charleston. The shotgun house girl is on a menu.

Derek introduced me. He stood in his chef whites and he said what he said at the boil, what he's said every time: "This woman didn't just feed me. She saved me." And then he said something new: "Her book is not a cookbook. It's a love letter to every person who ever stood at a stove and believed that feeding someone is the most important thing they could do with their hands." Fifty people clapped. I didn't cry. I saved it.

I introduced each course. She-crab soup: I told them about Mama. Shrimp and grits: I told them about Earl. Lowcountry boil: I told them about the church, the 260 people, the live oaks. Fried green tomatoes: I told them about the garden. Peach cobbler: I told them about Gladys and the rivalry and how the cobbler in the book is mine, not hers, and if Gladys asks, you didn't hear this from me.

After dessert, a woman came up to me. She was crying. She said, "My grandmother made shrimp and grits just like yours. She died last year. When I ate them tonight, I could taste her." I held that woman's hands and I said, "That's because she was in the kitchen with us, baby. The dead cook with us. They always do."

Now go on and feed somebody.

The cobbler in the book is mine — I said it out loud in that dining room, and I’ll say it here too. But Gladys or no Gladys, the truth is that a good fruit dessert doesn’t need a rivalry to justify itself. It just needs honest ingredients and somebody who cares. This fresh blueberry tart is the kind of thing I’d put on a table after a meal that meant something — clean and beautiful and not trying too hard, the way the best things rarely do. Make it for people you love. The dead will smell it and pull up a chair.

Prep Time: 25 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 45 min + 1 hr chill | Servings: 8

Ingredients

For the crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces
2–3 tablespoons ice water
For the cream filling:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
For the topping:
3 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried
3 tablespoons blueberry or apricot jam
1 tablespoon water

Instructions

Make the crust. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in the cold butter using a pastry cutter or your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add ice water one tablespoon at a time, mixing just until the dough holds together. Shape into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Blind bake the shell. Preheat oven to 375°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into an 11-inch circle and press it into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Trim the edges. Line the shell with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake 15 minutes, remove the weights and parchment, then bake another 5–8 minutes until the crust is lightly golden. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Make the cream filling. Beat the softened cream cheese with powdered sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Taste and adjust sweetness if needed.
Fill the tart shell. Spread the cream cheese filling evenly into the cooled tart shell, smoothing it all the way to the edges.
Arrange the blueberries. Pour the fresh blueberries over the filling. Arrange them in a single, even layer, covering the cream completely. Press gently so they sit snug.
Make the glaze. In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the jam and water together, stirring until smooth and pourable, about 2 minutes. Brush or spoon the warm glaze evenly over the blueberries.
Chill and serve. Refrigerate the tart for at least 1 hour before slicing. Remove the tart pan ring just before serving. Slice with a sharp knife and serve cold or at room temperature.

Nutrition (per serving)

Fresh Blueberry Tart — The One That’s Mine