Lavender Buttermilk Tart

This is at heart an old fashioned buttermilk pie, but a romantic twist on the classic. My husband and I got off onto a lavender quest after seeing the movie "It's Complicated."  We've done this a few times with movies where food figures heavily, and after seeing that one had to learn how to make lavender honey ice cream.  I'll post that recipe another time.  The pie recipe is adapted a little bit from Tart Love, by Holly Herrick, which is a great cookbook that you should try.   Her website and blog are at www.hollyherrick.com.    

You'll need a tart pan with a removable bottom, like the one in the picture.  Get the non-stick version.

I've never really liked making pastry in a food processor.  If you do, by all means do it, and just adapt the recipe as necessary.  For that matter, this works just fine with a pastry blender. Start by making a recipe of: 

Sweet Pastry 

2  1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/4 inch cubes

About 3 tablespoons ice-cold water, or just enough to hold the pastry together.

Combine the dry ingredients in a mixer.  Add the cubed butter, and using the paddle attachment mix until the whole thing looks like really coarse sand or sea salt.  Add the water a tablespoon at a time, and when the whole thing sort of hangs together in a loose ball, you are done.  Not handling it very much, form the dough into a ball and wrap with plastic.  If you make it into a disc instead of a ball, the next part will be much easier.  Chill at least 1 hour or overnight.

When ready to proceed, preheat your oven to 375 F.  Roll the dough out about 1/4 inch thick and press into the tart pan.  Line the pan with foil, fill with pie weights or dried beans and bake for 20 minutes.  While it is baking, prepare an egg wash:  1 egg yolk and a splash of water, blended well. Remove the pan from the oven, cool just enough so the egg wash will not cook, and brush the pastry all over with the  wash.  Return the pan to the oven and bake until lightly brown, about another 10 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 350 F and let the shell cool while you:

put in a saucepan:

1  1/2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon lavender flowers

Bring to a low boil and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from the heat and set aside for 5 minutes. Strain through a sieve into a bowl and place in the refrigerator to cool.  Now, make the:

Custard

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

3 large eggs

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs until foamy, then whisk in the butter and vanilla.  When the buttermilk has cooled to body temperature or cooler, whisk it into the egg and milk mixture, and mix until well combined.  Now stream the wet mixture into the flour mixture, whisking constantly.  Pour the custard into the prepared tart shell, and bake for 35 minutes, or until the custard has just started to brown and still wiggles a little when you touch it. Remove from oven and cool an hour or more before slicing.  Serve with a little whipped cream and a garnish of lavender flowers.