Let's Talk About Fruit Tarts

I have to be honest... I have a love/hate relationship with fruit tarts....


I've never been able to perfect a recipe for this sweet, nor find one, and I was just about to give up until I came across the site joyofbaking.com. Oh my goodness gracious. This fruit tart will have heads turn and mouths water for sure. Again, the following is not my own recipe!

This is the direct link to her website. :)

http://www.joyofbaking.com/FruitTart.html

Ingredients
Sweet Pastry Crust:

1 1/2 cups (195 grams) all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Pastry Cream:

1 1/4 cups (300 ml) milk (whole or 2%)

1/2 vanillabean, split lengthwise or 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

3 large eggyolks

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar

2 tablespoons (20 grams) all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons (20 grams) cornstarch(corn flour)

1/2 tablespoon liqueur(Grand Marnier, Brandy, Kirsch) (optional)

Apricot Glaze: (optional)

1/2 cup (120 grams) apricot jam or preserves

1 tablespoon water

Topping:

3 cups (720 ml) fruit (raspberries, blackberries,strawberries, blueberries, kiwifruit, bananas, plums, pineapple, melon, etc.)
(I personally used blackberries, raspberries, kiwis, strawberries, and blueberries. yum)

I followed her instructions word for word and they are on her website.

Thought Blurbs

I've had a lot of failed attempts at fruit tarts... I don't know how but I'd always end up over baking the crust and the pastry cream would be too dense... fail.

This recipe has a good balance of both a sweet crumbly crust to light but rich cream. It is definitely a crowd pleaser and the fruits look like gems once you coat them with that sweet apricot glaze. Overall, this recipe was extremely easy to follow and delicious. This recipe would be one that would be great to make during the summer or spring when the fruits are nice and ripe.

Now, I do not own a tart pan in which is unfortunate... so I used a cake pan with low sides which worked out fine, but this definitely would look a lot better if you used a pan with fluted edges. It just adds to the beauty of the fruit and the elegance of the sweet overall.

Definitely go and try this out! Happy cooking. <3