Browned Butter Cherry Tart

If you’re new here, you should know that this blog essentially does double duty as browned butter stan website. I first tried it out about ten years ago, and from that very first go, I was hooked. Anyone who’s ever used it before in their own baking and cooking will tell you, it’s just a magical ingredient.

Add browned butter to anything–seriously, ANYTHING–and it will improve it.

I’ve put that theory to the test with a ton of desserts and even some savory applications, and the results remain the same: browned butter is the GOAT.

It should come as little surprise then, that I’m back with yet another addition to add to the blog’s BB collection.

I don’t get to bake with cherries very often, but whenever I do, I’m seldom disappointed. My preference is for sour cherries, but sour or sweet will both work great for this tart, that comes together in a cinch and bakes relatively quickly. The most ‘labor intensive’ part of it is browning the butter, and that itself only takes 5-7 minutes. My favorite part of this is, is that the browned butter is incorporated into every layer of the tart; the crust AND the filling.

Giving the crust a quick pre-bake ensures that it stays golden brown and slightly crisp after the cherries and egg filling are added on top. The texture is similar to very very tender shortbread that’s even further enhanced with the addition of nutty, toasty browned butter. As you can see, the cherries begin to burst/deflate while baking so that their juice gets released into the smooth, eggy filling.

I ate a big slice of this with a very generous scoop of cool whip on top. It was divine. Give it a try it for yourself 😉

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Browned Butter Cherry Tart

Ingredients

For Crust

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
9 tablespoons un salted butter, cut up
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoons salt

For Filling

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut up
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoosn vanilla extract
2 3/4 cups canned sour or sweet cherries, drained, rinsed, and patted dry

Directions

Preheat oven to 375F. Place 1 1/2 cups flour in large bowl.

Heat all remaining crust ingredients in large skillet over medium heat 3 to 5 minutes or until mixture begins to brown and give off nutty aroma, stirring occasionally.

Pour over flour, stir until dough forms. Let stand until cool enough to handle. Press into bottom and up sides of 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom.

Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until browned and slightly puffed. Cool completely on wire rack.

Meanwhile, heat 1/2 cup butter in medium skillet over medium heat 4 to 7 minutes or until milk solids on bottom are dark chocolate brown. Pour into a large glass measuring cup or other container with spout. Cool 15 minutes or until warm but not hot.

Whisk 1/2 cup sugar, eggs, and 1/4 teaspoons salt in medium bowl until combined. Whisk in 1/4 cup flour and vanilla. Gradually whisk in warm browned butter until smooth.

Place tart pan on rimmed baking sheet. Arrange cherries over crust; pour filling over cherries (filling will reach top of crust).

Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until filling is puffed, golden brown and just set in center.

Remove tart pan from baking sheet, cool completely on wire rack.