Spiced Blueberry Tart + Blue Jasmine Tea Ice Cream #TheJaneAustenSocietyParty #Sponsored

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of author Natalie Jenner and publisher St. Martin's Press.

I received a complimentary book for the purpose of review, but all opinions are honest and they are my own.

No additional compensation for this post was provided; this page may contain affiliate links.

Today I am excited to be taking part in a virtual book release party for The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner* hosted by The Book Club Cookbook. You can see the blog party information:  here. You may also search for the hashtag #TheJaneAustenSocietyParty on social media to find the posts. But to make it easy, I'm also linking to my fellow bloggers' direct posts. Please take a look...

The Jane Austen Society Party Bloggers 

A Day in the Life on the Farm: Lemon Ice Box Cake

All Roads Lead to the Kitchen: Lemon Glazed Cake

Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Spiced Blueberry Tart + Blue Jasmine Tea Ice Cream

Eliot's Eats: Miss Bates' Baked Apples
Kahakai Kitchen: Lemon Mini-Cakes with Lemon Glaze & Baked Eggs with Shallots

 The Book Club Cookbook: Natalie Jenner's Victoria Sandwich Cake

On the Page

The Jane Austen Society tells the story of a group of unlikely cohorts - including a widowed village doctor, a school teacher, a reclusive spinster, and a Hollywood starlet - who band together to preserve the legacy of author Jane Austen. They aim to create a museum in her honor by saving the books and relics from the family estate. The novel's premise is that despite their differing backgrounds and disparate life situations, what they share in a love of books, particularly Austen's books, bridges the gaps and unifies the characters.

The relationships are intertwined as lives in a small village would be; we see their poignant struggles with life, death, grief, unrequited love, rejection, acceptance, and fear. And this new mission of theirs offers them the stage for healing and reconciliation.

That being said, I felt Jenner does a fine job of depicting the characters and their conflicts, but she seems to rush through the resolutions. However her research and love of Austen are evident and her deliberate imitation of Austen's writing style is admirable. Still I will say that while I enjoyed the book, I didn't love it.

On the Plate

While there were some mentions of food and drinks throughout the novel, I was inspired by Frances' meeting with Jack Leonard and Mimi Harrison. "Frances made her way down the hanging oak staircase.... Afternoon tea had been set out on the sideboard near the row of large mullioned windows, with two different types of cake on display: coffee and walnut, and Victoria sponge filled with preserves made from strawberries from the walled garden and honey from the estate's own apiary" (pg. 159).

I decided to make a treat worthy of an elegant tea tray and settled on a spiced blueberry tart. And in honor of British tea time, I served it à la mode with one of my favorite ice creams of the moment: Blue Jasmine Tea by a localish-to-me company called Tin Pot.

Ingredients makes one 9" tart

Crust

• 100 g organic granulated sugar
• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
• 80 g oil (I used canola oil)
• zest of 1 organic lemon, approximately 1 t
• 280 g flour (I used all-purpose flour)
• pinch of salt
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t lemon extract
• Also needed: 9" tart pan with removable bottom, parchment paper, rolling pin

Filling

• 3 C organic blueberries, divided
• 1/4 C organic granulated sugar
• 2 T flour
• 2 t spice blend*

*I used the "We're Not Gonna Bake It" Apple Pie Spice from the Book Club Cookbook collection. You can read a little bit more about their spices in this post: Buggies and Red Wine Cocoa-Mo Brownies. If you don't have that spice, use a mixture of cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger, and cardamom in whatever proportions you prefer!

Procedure

Crust
In the bowl of a food processor, place all of the ingredients for the crust. Pulse a few times until the mixture comes together. You should have pea-sized crumbles. Turn the mixture onto a parchment paper-lined work surface. Knead until you have an elastic dough that doesn't stick to your hands.

Roll the dough ball into a circle and transfer it to the tart pan. Prick the bottom with a fork. Place the crust into the freezer to chill while the oven reaches temperature. Preheat oven to 350° F.

Filling
Place 2 C blueberries in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a few times to break up the berries. You don't want a puree; you just want the berries split open a bit. Turn the berries out into a mixing bowl.

Stir in the sugar, flour, and spice blend. Stir until well combined, then spoon the filling into the frozen tart crust.

Sprinkle the remaining 1 C of blueberries over the top and press them gently into the filling. Place tart into the preheated oven and bake for one hour. The crust should be golden brown and the filling bubbling.

Let cool for at least 15 minutes before removing from the tart pan. Slice warm and serve with ice cream on the side.

Many Thanks...

To the Publisher, St. Martin's Press, on Twitter

To the Author, Natalie Jenner, on Instagram, on Twitter

To the Book Club Cookbook on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, on Pinterest

*This blog currently has a partnership with Amazon.com in their affiliate program, which gives me a small percentage of sales if you buy a product through a link on my blog. It doesn't cost you anything more. If you are uncomfortable with this, feel free to go directly to Amazon.com and search for the item of your choice.

I have also added this to #FoodieReads.

Click to see what everyone else read in May 2020: here.