TWD: Quick Classic Berry Tart

So, confession. No, confessions. I'm not sure how to rank these, because some are totally relevant, and others are, well... not. At all. Maybe I'll start with the relevant ones and then tell you when you can tune out? Yeah? Think that'll work? God, I hope so.

Relevant confessions:

1) I made these, oh, a month or so ago.
2) And by "these" I mean this one. One little mini tart.
3) With sweet tart dough that was leftover from god knows when (don't judge).
4) It called for fresh, local berries. These were from California, half price, and damned tasty (again, don't judge).
5) It also called for pastry cream. There is zero pastry cream in there. The shell is actually lightly brushed with chocolate, then filled with burnt sugar ice cream and topped with strawberries.
6) After making that ice cream, I basically put it in and on every dessert I made until it was gone.
7) The ice cream was gone much, much too quickly.

And now is when you can tune out if you'd like. From here on out, there will probably be zero facts or rumors that actually relate to the berry tart. (Which was significantly quicker with my use of ice cream instead of making a pastry cream. Just sayin'.)


Irrelevant confessions:

1) Speaking of non-local strawberries from California, I'm in California. Pasadena, California.
2) It's colder here than Wisconsin was when I left a week or so ago.
3) I lasted a grand total 20 minutes on California roadways before flipping someone off. Seriously, driving up on a curb to turn right when I had my right turn signal on?!?
4) Which was longer than the 2 minutes it took once I got on the highway before seeing my first near-collision. (Um, what the hell, California?)
5) I've been up since 3a PST, and it's now nearly midnight on my internal clock. My body is slightly confused right now.
6) Coffee stirrers from my hotel room make fantastic chopsticks. You know, if you ever decide that the dinner you thought you were done with is calling your name.
7) After meeting tons of people at Caltech, I was amazed to find:
7a) Two separate people rooming with two separate girls I knew from Rose-Hulman.
7b) One person from Wisconsin.
7c) Someone engaged to a professor in the dept where a friend of mine is doing her PhD research
7d) Multiple marathoners, bikers, weightlifters, and generally fit people. Toto, I don't think we're in the Midwest any longer...

So what I'm seeing here is this: Burnt sugar ice cream belongs on and in everything, the world is a very, very small place, and I have an unfortunate addiction to trail mix from Trader Joe's.

Wait, what?

Last Week: Burnt Sugar Ice Cream
Next Week: Apple-Apple Bread Pudding

And please excuse me, I believe the final remnants of my kang ka ree are calling my name.