Look, But Don't Taste

My very first baking project was ambitious. Mum drove me to the store because I was too young to drive myself. We bought beautiful fluted pie tins and pie weights and hours later, after following a certain Ms. Stewart's instructions, had a dazzling array of miniature tartlets featuring blueberries and raspberries floating on a light creme patisserie.

A decade later, having mastered the pate brisee and creme patisserie many times over, I decided to made a Fourth of July treat. The crust was beautiful, the custard smooth, the berries unblemished. And then we sliced the tart (by now having realized that two tarts were far easier to manage than two dozen tartlets) and served it. There were some strange looks. I had a bite and got a mouthful of sweet berry and savory egg custard. Arugh! Where was the sugar?