Making Fruit Tarts
A fruit tart relies on a crisp shortbread base, a stable pastry cream, and fresh seasonal fruit. The secret to success is keeping the dough cold so it doesn't shrink, and chilling the finished tart just long enough for the cream to set the structure.
Temperature is your only enemy.
If the butter in the crust melts before it hits the oven, you lose the snap. Keep your butter cubed and frozen until the moment you mix, and chill the dough twice.
- 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom
- Rolling pin
- Whisk
- Heavy-bottomed saucepan
- Pie weights or dried beans
What goes in.
- 1 1/2 cupsall-purpose flour
- 1/2 cupcold unsalted butter, cubed
- 1/3 cuppowdered sugar
- 1large egg yolk
- 1 1/2 cupswhole milk
- 3large egg yolks
- 1/3 cupgranulated sugar
- 2 tbspcornstarch
- 1 tspvanilla bean paste
- 2 cupsassorted seasonal fruit, sliced
Docking and weighing
Prick the dough base with a fork to prevent air bubbles, then line it with parchment and fill to the brim with weights. This holds the vertical edges in place while the butter renders.
The method.
Mix the crust
Pulse flour, powdered sugar, and cold butter until it looks like coarse sand. Add the yolk and a splash of ice water, pulsing just until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
Chill and roll
Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap it, and chill for 45 minutes. Roll it out on a floured surface to a 1/8-inch thickness and press into the pan, trimming the edges.
Blind bake
Freeze the tart shell for 15 minutes before baking at 375°F. Line with parchment and weights, bake for 15 minutes, remove the weights, and bake 10 minutes more until golden.
Prepare the cream
Whisk sugar, cornstarch, and yolks in a bowl. Heat milk until steaming, then temper the eggs by pouring a slow stream of milk into the yolk mixture while whisking constantly. Return to the pan and cook over low heat until thickened into a stiff custard.
Assemble
Once both shell and cream are cold, pour the cream into the shell. Smooth with an offset spatula and arrange fruit in concentric circles starting from the outer edge.
Other turns to take.
Almond Crust
Replace 1/4 cup of the flour with finely ground almond meal for a nuttier, more brittle base.
Chocolate Ganache Base
Spread a thin layer of dark chocolate ganache inside the baked shell before adding the pastry cream to provide a moisture barrier and added depth.
When it doesn't go to plan.
Use a fine-mesh sieve to strain your pastry cream after cooking to ensure it is perfectly smooth.
If the pastry cream feels too thick once chilled, whisk it vigorously for 30 seconds to loosen it before spreading.
Glaze your fruit with a light brush of warmed apricot jam to give it a professional sheen and prevent oxidation.
The ones that keep coming up.
Why did my crust shrink in the oven?
The dough wasn't cold enough or it was over-worked, which develops gluten and causes the dough to snap back. Always chill the dough after pressing it into the pan.
Can I make this the day before?
Keep the shell and cream separate until the day of service. The moisture from the cream will soften the crust if left sitting for more than six hours.