By Maya Bourne
As a baker, one recipe I hear countless requests for is my fruit tarts. Whether it is constant pleading from sisters or teammates, this recipe is sure to wow any audience. The tart consists of a crust, pastry cream filling, and fruit topping, which are all made separately and combined at the end to create a fantastic dessert. If you have a free day that you wish to fill with flour and eggs, this recipe is perfect for you.
Ingredients:
Crust (makes some extra, which you can use to make a few extra mini fruit tarts):
- ½ cup butter, cold
Pro-Tip: try to use unsalted butter, as you can control the amount of salt you add, but if you only have salted butter, you can use that as well.
- 1 egg
- ½ cup powder sugar
Pro-Tip: powdered sugar can be made by blending up regular white sugar if you don’t have any on hand!
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
Pro-Tip: if you are using salted butter, don’t add any extra salt
- 2 cups flour
Pro-Tip: don’t pack a bunch of flour into the cup. Instead, use a spoon to fill the cup and level it out, avoiding any unwanted extra
Vanilla pastry cream:
- 1 ¾ cups milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Pro-Tip: vanilla paste also works, but you may need to adjust the measurements
- 5 egg yolks
Pro-Tip: save your extra egg yolks for scrambled eggs or meringue, don’t throw them away!
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
Toppings:
- ____ assorted berries- about 2 cups of each, depending on your pattern (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries)
- 1 tbsp apricot jam (optional)
- ½ tsp water (optional)
Pro-Tip: both of the optional ingredients are used for an apricot jam that covers the top of the tart, but I don’t usually add it on. It’s up to you!
Instructions:
- Start with the crust. Using a food processor, mix the flour, powdered sugar, and salt until combined.
Pro-Tip- if you don’t have a food processor, this process can be done by hand as well. It’s a built-in workout!
- Add the cold cubed butter and blend until there are pea-sized pieces of butter left.
Pro-Tip: if you are doing this by hand, make sure your hands are cold when combining to make sure the butter doesn’t melt.
- Add the egg and vanilla, and mix until a dough forms
Pro-Tip: make sure not to overwork the dough, otherwise the crust will turn out more chewy than flaky.
- Form the dough into a disc and cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
Pro-Tip: make the disc a little thinner to make it easier to roll out later
- While the crust is chilling, start on your pastry cream. Place a saucepan over high heat and fill it with milk and vanilla extract. Let it simmer, then remove it from the heat, scoop out ¼ cup of milk, and set aside.
Pro-Tip: the process of making the pastry cream usually takes about an hour total, so the crust should be done chilling by the time the pastry cream goes in to set.
- In a medium mixing bowl, add the sugar and cornstarch. Mix with a whisk until combined. Add the egg yolks and mix.
Pro-Tip: use a larger bowl than you might think, as you will be adding more to the bowl later
- Gradually add the ¼ cup of milk to the bowl and mix constantly with the whisk to temper the egg yolks.
Pro-Tip: tempering the egg yolks ensures that they don’t scramble by cooking too fast, and will lead to a smoother pastry cream.
- Move the saucepan with the milk back to the stove over low heat and add the egg yolk mixture to the milk, whisking constantly.
Pro-Tip: add the egg yolk mixture slowly, ensuring that every part is whisked in before adding more. This makes a smoother pastry cream.
- Mix over medium-low heat constantly until the mixture thickens
Pro-Tip: this step will take longer than you think it has to. Try your best not to get impatient and increase the heat. Just trust the process and keep mixing!
- Once thickened, transfer the mixture to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
Pro-Tip: the pastry cream may need a little more than 3 hours to chill, just be patient with it.
- Once the crust is chilled, transfer the dough onto a clean floured surface and roll into a circle about one inch larger than your tart tin all the way around.
Pro-Tip: make sure your surface has plenty of flour on it to prevent the dough from sticking and ripping
- Place the dough in your pastry tin and press down lightly with your fingers to take out any air bubbles
Pro-TIp: I find it easiest to place the tin on top of the dough, then flip all of it upside down and peel the parchment paper off of the bottom of the dough, leaving it in the tin with as little mess as possible. Cut off the excess edge pieces for a cleaner look.
- Make holes in the bottom of the tin with a fork and place it in the freezer for at least 20 minutes
Pro-Tip: add a lot of holes to prevent the bottom from puffing up during the bake.
- Bake at 350F for about 15-20 minutes or until the crust is a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool while the pastry cream finishes setting.
Pro-Tip: use baking weights or uncooked rice if you have it to prevent the crust from puffing up while cooking. Take off the weights after about 10 minutes to finish baking the crust fully.
- Once everything has cooled, start the assembly. Spoon the pastry cream into the tart crust, and top your tart off with whatever pattern of fruit you’d like.
- OPTIONAL: make a simple glaze with the jam and water, and brush on top of the tart.
