July 3, 1863: Gettysburg Saved the Union

Celebrate with an American tart.

The third day of the Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg occurred on this day in 1863. Between 4 and 6 p.m., approximately 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured, of the more than 50,000 who would eventually die in this conflict. It has long been understood to be among the bloodiest days of a war that tried to tear the nation apart. But it is also regarded as the battle that ultimately saved it.

The Battle of Gettysburg. Credit: Currier & Ives, 1863. Library of Congress.

After all the unraveling our nation has experienced—and which looks likely to continue—America Eats! has decided that this weekend should celebrate what happened on this rural battlefield in a small town no one had heard of before. If the Revolutionary War was our birth, the Civil War was our savior of the principled ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the currently battered Constitution upon which we were founded.

A tiny food-related newsletter may not be considered an effective, or even appropriate, place to counter today’s stomach-turning fears, especially after this week in which one part of the three government branches seems hell-bent on perpetuating them. But the newsletter can play its small role by remembering what is at stake and that courageous, everyday people must show us how to wrestle it back.

On this day, please read Abraham Lincoln’s consecration of the Gettysburg cemetery, where many of the battle’s fallen rest. He reminds us of the duty we all carry if we love our nation. Consider reading it aloud to everyone at the barbecues you may be attending through the holiday weekend.

Then have fun baking and enjoying the recipe for a fine fruit tart that proudly displays our nation’s colors!

Abraham Lincoln giving the Gettysburg Address. He’s the bareheaded man in the middle, just left of the man wearing a top hat. November 19, 1863. Photographer, Mathew Brady, National Archive.

Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives, that that nation might live.

It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract.

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

An American Tart

This recipe is based on one given by the King Arthur Baking Company. You don’t have to use their flour (I use Heckers, myself), but it really is pretty good. I’ve taken their recipe and substituted some of my own ingredients, such as buttermilk for milk. The reason for this is to zap in a light astringent taste that, to my sensibilities, offers a nice foil to the sweet berries and peaches that are now reaching their peak. If you’re not so sure about that, go back to whole milk, but I would make a further suggestion to use heavy cream instead to make the cream richer.

Another thing I did was to glaze the bottom of the tart before adding the fruit. This prevents the fruit juices from making the crust’s bottom soggy.

The Recipe

Crust

One fully baked 9-inch pâte brisée crust

Before baking the crust, spread over the bottom a mixture of about 1/4 cup of sugar and zest from 1 orange. Then proceed with the baking according to the above recipe’s directions.

Fruit

1 pint blueberries 
1 pint raspberries
About 5 ripe white peaches. You may need more or less, depending on the fruits’ size.

Gently wash the fruits. Make sure the berries are well drained.

Skin the peaches, slice them in half and remove the stones. Then slice each half into quarters. Sprinkle the slices with juice from an orange to stop them from browning.

Refrigerate until you’re ready to assemble the tart.

Now make the cream filling:

Cream Filling

1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 cup whole buttermilk or heavy cream or whole milk
3 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Whisk together the sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt in a small bowl. Add the egg and whisk some more until the mixture is smooth.

Pour the buttermilk into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Don’t be concerned if it seems the buttermilk is separating into a thin watery liquid and tiny blobs of milk fat. They’ll come together in the mixing stage.

Once it begins to simmer, take the saucepan off the burner and gradually whisk the buttermilk into the egg mixture. Continue whisking until the mixture is smooth.

Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and bring it to a simmering boil. Make sure you whisk continually to keep it from lumping. Be sure to keep an eye on it because the mixture will thicken quickly and you don't want it to burn.

Remove the saucepan from the stove a minute after the mixture has come to a boil. Stir in the butter and vanilla extract.

Let cool before spreading it across the tart’s surface. If you’re not finishing the tart right away, lay a piece of plastic wrap over the cream’s surface to prevent a film from forming.

Now Assemble the Tart

Spread the cream filling evenly across the baked tart shell.

You have some choices when it comes to the fruit:

• Keep the fruit separate from one another and arrange them in pretty, Instagram-ready American flag stripes: blueberries or raspberries on the sides, peaches in the middle.

OR

If you were me and don’t believe in making Instagram-worthy dishes:

• Cut the peach slices into chunks and throw them in a bowl with the berries. Splash a little—not too much—Grand Marnier over them (you’ve already sprinkled orange juice over the peaches so the liqueur will match nicely). Gently toss them until they all mix happily together, much like we may wish our countrymen would do. Pile them high over the cream filling.