This rustic Alsatian Blueberry Tart is a quintessential Summer dessert, hailing from the Alsace region in the Eastern part of France, where blueberries are plentiful. It features a crisp “pâte brisée” (French pie dough) generously filled with fresh seasonal blueberries. Just before baking, a “migaine” (quick custard) is poured overtop the blueberries to create an extra juicy filling with a delicious hint of creaminess.
If you’re visiting Alsace in the Summer, you’ll likely find an offering of this Alsatian Blueberry Tart in most restaurants, cafes and B&Bs. It is an iconic dessert from this French region and a tart that locals love to make at home too. It is simple, rustic-looking, delicious and makes do with the abundance of blueberries in late Summer.
You can find this dessert called by “Tarte aux myrtilles” (myrtille translating to blueberry) or “Tarte aux Brimbelles” – brimbelles referring to the local wild blueberries harvested in Alsace.
Note: This Alsatian Blueberry Tart recipe was first published on the blog in August 2018. Three years later, I re-worked the recipe slightly, with more blueberries, less sugar and slightly more crème fraiche. I also wanted to update the photos and instructions and add step-by-step photos.
The crust: a “Pâte Brisée”
To make an Alsatian Blueberry Tart, I find a classic-French “Pâte Brisée” to be the best choice.
A “Pâte Brisée” is the French version of a standard pie crust, made with a generous amount of butter. In comparison to a “Pâte Sucrée” (traditionally used for a French Lemon Tart) or a “Pâte Sablée” (traditionally used for a French Frangipane Apricot Tart), a Pâte Brisée is made with only flour, butter and water – no sugar or eggs.
With fewer ingredients, a “Pâte Brisée” is a simpler, quicker pie crust that is more often used for “rustic” desserts (meaning, a little less fancy) that will simply allow the fruits to be the center of attention. Since it doesn’t have any sugar, it also means a “Pâte Brisée” can be used for both sweet and savory pies, be it quiches, fruits tarts or galettes.
Because the flour and butter are mixed with water (water encouraging the gluten development in the flour), a “Pâte Brisée is sturdier and less sandy, in comparison to a “Pâte Sucrée” or a “Pâte Sablée”. This makes it an ideal crust for fruit tarts, to hold the baked soft fruits without breaking. It is also great for galettes, to avoid having the edges crumble when you fold them over the fruits. Lastly, it is a great crust to work with to create trimming, decorations or lattice-work for the top or edges of a fruit tart – just like this blueberry tart.
Tips for a great Pâte Brisée”:
- It is essential to use cold butter and ice cold water to make the dough. Cold butter -not room temperature- will distribute into the flour without softening. And ice-cold water will bind the ingredients together without softening the butter. This ensures little bits of butter are still present in the dough once rolled out, which makes for a most tender baked Pâte Brisée.
- Do not overmix the dough: stop mixing when it just comes together into a rough ball. Otherwise, your crust likely will end up too tough once baked.
- The Pâte Brisée needs to be chilled at least 20 minutes before being rolled out. If the dough is too cold and firm when trying to roll it out, let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes. It will warm up slightly, to become easier to roll out. If the dough cracks a bit when you roll it out or transfer it into the pan, do not fret. You can simply wet your fingers lightly under lukewarm water and “rub” the cracks to bind the dough back together.
The filling: Blueberries with a “migaine”
What makes this Alsatian Blueberry Tart truly stand out from other blueberry tarts or pies is the quick custard – called “migaine”– that gets poured atop the blueberries right before baking. Sometimes referred to as a flan, a filling or a custard, a “migaine” is a simple mixture of crème fraiche and egg yolks.
Once baked, the “migaine” turns into a soft flan-like texture that wraps around the blueberries. Its mellow, creamy taste pairs perfectly with the sweetness and acidity of the fruits. Preparing a “migaine” to fill sweet and savory tarts (such as quiches) is quite popular in the Eastern part of France.
More Cooking notes:
- Making your own Pâte Brisée will make a big difference for this Alsatian Blueberry Tart. This recipe will give you enough for a 9-inch (22.9cm) tart pan and you will leftover dough to create some decorations if you would like – such as lattice designs for the top, braids for around the edge of the tart or cutouts. Decorations are fun to make, but optional.
- I recommend you use a tart pan with a removable bottom, which will support the crust when lifting your tart.
- Although it wasn’t easy to find up until a few years ago, Crème fraiche has now become common in grocery stores in Canada and the US. You can usually find it next to sour creams. Two of my favorite brands I recommend are Liberte and Maison Riviera.
I hope you’ll love this Alsatian Blueberry Tart as much as I do! If you have any questions, please leave a comment.
You may also like:
- Blueberry Almond Financiers
- Blueberry Lemon Yogurt Loaf
- Peach Blueberry Galette
- Peach Crème Fraiche Streusel Tart
- Apricot Frangipane Tart
- Fresh Peach Yogurt Cake
16 comments
Hi Audrey,
This looks wonderful. Can I use frozen blueberries? I have some from my garden in the freezer that I’d like to use. Do I need to thaw first or make any other adjustments?
Thanks,
Mary
Hi Mary. Yes you can use frozen blueberries – just make sure they are fully thawed and drained, or the filling will be a bit watery. Happy baking!
Dear Audrey
Thank you for explaining the different types of pastry. I always make my own short crust /pâte brisée but find it much easier to roll out and line my tin as soon as it is made, then place in a poly bag and chill.
I love the quick custard must make it soon before our blueberries are finished.
Hi Lynda & Ewing. The tip of rolling out the curst first and then chilling it is great too. I personally prefer chilling it first, so it isn’t too soft when I roll it out, but honestly both work! 🙂 Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you for this excellent recipe, I made a few of these pies last year,they were popular with the whole family. I am trying freezing them.
Thanks for letting me know, and I’d love to hear how they froze… Never done it myself.
Between my eldest daughter’s junior and senior year in high school, we traveled together to France with her French teacher, 13 other students, the teacher’s husband, and her pre-teen son. We spent an extraodinary few weeks traveling from Normandy to Nice. The highlights to me were the wonderful people and the surprise at finding a different twist on little individual tarts from one end of France to the other. I can’t wait to receive your cookbook in the mail, ordered after viewing the crusty, no-knead boule bread, and then the blueberry tarts. The book looks ‘deliciously’ enticing. Merci, Audrey!
Colleen, I so very much appreciate the support for my work. The book brings back a lot of memories for me of getting to share recipes near and dear to my heart with my readers… And of course, my first ever adventure with creating my own cookbook. I hope you’ll enjoy the book as a compliment to the blog, where you’ll always find new, old and updated recipes. As an aside, your trip sounded amazing! There are few greater things than discovering a new country and its culinary delights!
How do I make this with fresh blueberries for unbaked blueberries on the tart pastry? I’ve had it with and without the custard in various parts of France and it is wonderful both ways. Haven’t tried it with baked berries.
Hello Colleen. I hope I’m understanding your question, so please correct me if I misunderstood. Alsatian blueberry tarts are made like this, fresh blueberries cooked in a “raw” custard, that is cooked during baking. If you’re looking to use unbaked blueberries (so they’d be fresh in the tart), you could try this recipe with the tart shell and the custard baked, and then once out of the oven setting the fresh blueberries over top.
The cook time would need to be adjusted (would bake faster), but I’m unsure as to how much faster, as I’ve never tried it this way. I also worry the blueberries wouldn’t “set” into the tart at all, and just roll off once sliced/served.
When my daughter and I were traveling across France every patisserie had their regional version of a fresh blueberry tart. Only when we traveled south did we find them in custard. Did they perhaps have a gelatin glaze to keep the berries on the tart? We were eating little individual tartlets. Perhaps that is the difference? I just received your beautiful book today. I’m excited to start exploring your recipes. Thanks so very much for your help.
Hello again, Colleen! I see what you mean now… And yes, you’re right, every region does desserts a little differently, so it’s always difficult to know which you’ve had. If you have a look at my Tarte Aux Fruits recipe, you might find something a little closer to what you’re describing. But yes, I have also seen patisseries use gelatine as a “binder”. But I think my Tarte Aux Fruits is the way to go for uncooked fruits!
Thank you for the recipe. I feel that there needs to be more yolks and crème fraiche to really create a custard filling. I could hardly taste it. Maybe a tsp of vanilla would improve the taste ? Also since the blueberry’s were a little tart, it needed more sugar. I will try making it again and also add a tbs sugar to the dough as well, and double the filling.
Hello, Alina! Thank you for making this recipe and leaving a review. Traditionally, the custard filling is quite “light”, but now that you’ve made it, you know what you like. If you would like to add more custard, go for it! A touch of vanilla…? Absolutely! There’s absolutely nothing wrong with tweaking a recipe to your tastes if there’s some things you’d prefer done to it. Glad you enjoyed it enough to make it again 🙂 I would absolutely love a slice right now for my breakfast!
The custard did not jell and was runny, did I not cook it long enough?
Oh no, Vince. This issue must be resolved, I’m so sorry this happened. A few questions, just to troubleshoot… 1) Were the blueberries fresh or frozen? 2) Were the eggs of the “large” variety? 3) Does your crème fraiche look like mine does in the photo? (I have seen some “crème fraiche” that is actually a liquid)
These are just about the only 3 issues I can think of off the bat as to why it wouldn’t set properly aside from it being underbaked, which is possible. I remade this recipe a few months ago in my kitchen and it was definintely set.