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Fruit Tart Obsession

The word “tart” can be daunting, but this fruit tart filled with traditional pastry cream and topped with fresh fruit takes the cake. Not only is it delicious and fresh, but it is shockingly fairly simple to create from scratch. The most time consuming part is waiting for everything to cool! This fruit tart recipe is easily customizable; top with fresh fruit or make sure to see other suggestions below. 



How easy is it to make a fruit tart?

Fruit tarts are surprisingly easy to make. The beauty of this dessert is everything can be made well in advance and assembled at a later time. For the tart shell, we’ll be making an easy shortcrust in a food processor. Any kind of pastry dough can be used for this as well, such as a traditional pastry dough or a cream cheese-based pastry dough as well. The crust can be baked, cooled and set aside for a day or a few hours. Pastry cream is also very simple to make and is preferred to be made ahead of time so it has time to completely chill. 


I'm including a link to the tart pan I use for this recipe and as an Amazon Associate I earn a small percentage from qualifying purchases. The tart pan can be found at this link.


Fruit tart with pastry cream. 

Makes one 8”-9” tart or six 4” tarts


Crust ingredients:

  • 1 ¼ cup flour

  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cubed

  • 1 tablespoon greek yogurt

  • 3 tablespoons sugar


Pastry cream ingredients:

  • ¾ cup whole milk

  • ¾ cup heavy cream

  • ½ cup sugar

  • ¼ cup flour

  • ¼ teaspoon salt

  • 4 egg yolks

  • 1 teaspoon vanilla


Fruit topping:

Any combination of fruits such as sliced strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, sliced kiwi, or sliced peaches. The possibilities are endless.



Glaze:

  • ½ cup apple, peach, apricot or strawberry jelly



Making the crust



Step 1:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until the dough starts to come together. 


Step 2:

Press into bottom and sides of the tart pan. Bake for 15 minutes and let cool completely. 


Making traditional pastry cream:


Step 1:

Place whole milk and heavy cream into a medium saucepan and heat over medium, medium/high heat. We don’t want it to boil. Once you notice the milk and cream mixture steaming, remove the pan from the heat. 



Step 2:

In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, flour and salt. 



Step 3: 

Add egg yolks and vanilla to the flour mixture. Whisk vigorously until all ingredients are combined. It will be lumpy and corse, but that’s ok. It doesn’t matter what it looks like at this point, the important thing is that all ingredients are combined well. 



Step 4:

Pour the hot milk mixture into the bowl with the yolk mixture and whisk until smooth. 


Step 5:

Pour the pastry cream into the pan used to heat the milks and place over medium heat. Whisk frequently. The cream will start to thicken. Once the cream starts to bubble (you’ll want to pause whisking for a few seconds to see if the cream is starting to simmer), remove it from the heat. 

Note: to create flavored pastry creams, simply stir in flavor extracts at this point. 



Step 6:

Place a strainer over a clean bowl. Pour the pastry cream over the strainer into the bowl, allowing the strainer to catch any bits. Use a spoon to help the thick cream through, or carefully tap the strainer against the bowl.



Step 7:

Let it cool completely. Take a piece of plastic wrap and place it directly on the surface of the cream, making sure to cover the entire exposed surface so it doesn’t develop a skin. Place in the refrigerator to chill. 


If a lighter pastry cream is desired, fold in 1-2 cups of whipped cream.  


Assembling the tart


Once the crust is completely cooled and the pastry cream is completely chilled, we can assemble our tart! 



Step 1:

Spread pastry cream evenly into the tart shell. 



Step 2: 

Decorate the surface with fresh fruit toppings of your choice, arranging the fruit as you wish



Step 3:

Heat ½ cup of jelly in the microwave until warmed and fluid. Use a pastry brush to brush the glaze over the surface of the tart. Apple, peach and apricot are best for a neutral color. However, feel free to use strawberry jelly as well. Strawberry jelly is delicious with berry-heavy tarts. The pink hue of the glaze would also blend in with the colors of the berries. 


Serve chilled. 



Other delicious tart filling ideas: 

  • Chopped hazelnuts and Nutella drizzle

  • Chopped pistachios

  • Tropical fruits: mango, star fruit, passion fruit 

  • Berries: blueberries, blackberries, raspberries


Kris Galicia Brown is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. These links may be affiliate links. We may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these below:

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