With a busy, non-stop weekend chock full of errands, major furniture assembly/removal/moving, tidying and organising, there was nothing more ideal than a sweet pick-me-up to restore those rapidly depleted energy stores.

Enter the Mustikkapiirakka, or Finnish Blueberry Tart.

With my mother as a willing kitchen participant (and the most organised helper over the weekend!), I prepared this moreish tart for a delicious morning tea treat for all to share.

Can you imagine anything more perfect to replenish a tired body?

{ Mustikkapiirakka :: Blueberry Tart }

I have seen a few different approaches to the pastry.  Some recipes included cream (a deliciously light, melt-in-your-mouth pastry I am familiar with in Finnish baking), some recipes included sour cream, and others simply a basic flour, sugar, butter combination.

I elected to celebrate the simple style of the tart, but with my own favourite flaky pastry recipe.  For the filling, I loaded up on blueberries and kept the flavour unadulterated with the addition of only sugar for extra sweetness and potato flour to help absorb excess juices from the berries.  This version is my variation on the Mustikkapiirakka.

If you know of the Mustikkapiirakka, I would love to hear about the technique you use.

* Ingredients *
Dough
2 cups all purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
250g / 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small cubes and frozen
1/3 cup iced water
Filling
600g / 20oz blueberries
2 tablespoons potato flour
2/3 cup sugar

* Directions *
For the dough, mix the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor to combine.  Add the butter and pulse gently to roughly incorporate into the flour mixture.  Do not over mix – it is fine to have some butter chunks showing.  Again pulsing the processor, slowly add in the iced water until the dough starts to come together.  Once again, do not over mix.  Tip the dough out onto a floured board and gently knead for a few seconds to bring together.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  When you are ready to bake the tarts, remove the pastry from the refrigerator, cut into two even pieces and allow to soften slightly.  In the meantime, prepare the blueberry mixture.  Combine the blueberries, potato flour and sugar in a bowl.  Set aside.  To prepare the pastry, roll out each piece into a 30 cm / 12 in circle.  Trim to neaten edges using a dinner plate as a guide if necessary.  Line two baking sheets with baking paper.  Place a piece of prepared pastry on each.  Top each with one half of the prepared mixture.  Chill the prepared tarts for 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.  Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 2 tarts