Fresh Fruit Tart
This tart has a shortbread cookie crust and vanilla pastry cream that is topped with fresh berries or sliced stone fruit that is glazed with jam. It is perfect for a summer gathering. Make early in the day to allow time for the pastry cream to cool. Tart is best served on the same day it is made.The crust is based on a recipe from The New Elegant But Easy Cookbook, Marian Burros and Lois Levine, Simon and Schuster, 1998, p. 267.The pastry cream is a "lower fat" No-Fuss Pastry Cream from the Martha Stewart website that takes 15 minutes to prepare.
Servings: 8 servings
Ingredients
Crust
- 12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks) cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- flour to help shape crust
Pastry Cream
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- pinch kosher salt
- 2 cups whole milk
- 4 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Fruit
- strawberries hulled and sliced 1/4" thick
- or raspberries, blueberries
- or stone fruit like peaches, apricots, plums peeled, pitted and sliced 1/4"
- 1/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves currant would also work well
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat oven to 375° F.
- In a food processor fitted with metal blade, combine butter, flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. With motor on pour the cider vinegar through the feed tube. Mixture should barely hold together when pressed between two fingers.
- Butter a 11 x 1 inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom well. Transfer dough to pan and use floured fingers to press crust to form an even shape, approximately 1/4" thick. Bake until very slightly brown at edges, approximately 15 - 20 minutes. Allow to cool completely, about 1 hour before adding pastry cream.
Pastry Cream
- In 2-quart saucepan whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. In glass measuring cup, whisk together milk and egg yolks, add to saucepan with butter. Over medium heat, bring to a boil while whisking. Continue to whisk while boiling for 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
- Remove crust from pan sides (bottom will still be under crust) and slide crust onto serving platter.
- To eliminate any lumps, strain pastry cream through fine-mesh sieve into bowl or, if you have help, directly into crust. Cover with plastic wrap and chill.
Fruit
- Shortly before serving arrange desired fruit on top of cream. One can get creative and form a design or pattern.
- Warm preserves in microwave until it flows easily. Use pastry brush to brush top of fruit.
Notes
