Fresh Seasonal Fruit Tart

Photo: bottomless kitchen

Ingredients

Tart crust:

1 1/2 cups of flour

1/8 of a teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of unsalted butter

1/4 of a cup granulated sugar

1 large egg (beaten)

Pastry cream:

1 1/4 cups of milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 large egg yolks

1/4 of a cup granulated sugar

1/8 cup of flour

2 tablespoons of cornstarch

3/4 of a tablespoon of Grand Marnier, or water if you prefer

Apricot glaze:

1/2 cup of apricot jam or perserves (We used raspberry-apricot perserves)

1 tablespoon Grand Marnier, or water if you prefer

Fresh fruit for topping the tart:

3 cups of mixed fruit (We used raspberries,

Preparation

Pastry crust:

Whisk flour & salt in separate, medium size bowl. Set aside.

With a hand mixer, beat butter until softened in large bowl.

Add sugar to butter, beat until light & fluffy

Add beaten egg, until just incorporated

Add flour mixture all at once, mix until dough forms a ball: do not over-mix.

Flatten into a disk, cover in plastic wrap, & refrigerate for 20 minutes until firm (or overnight if making dough in advance)

Roll out pastry dough on floured surface, until about 1/8 inch thick & 11-12 inches in diameter (should be about an inch larger than pan - place pan upside down in center of dough to check for correct size)

Roll pastry around floured rolling pin to transfer (unroll) onto tart dish (9 inch tart dish with removable bottom)

Lightly press pastry into bottom & sides of pan, roll the rolling pin over the tart dish to cut off extra dough

Prick dough bottom with a fork to prevent dough from puffing up while baking, cover & refrigerate for 20 minutes

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, with a rack in the center

Line unbaked pastry shell with aluminum foil, fill with pie weights, rice, or beans, filling the whole tart dish to the top

Bake tart for 20-25 minutes, until crust is dry & lightly golden brown.

Remove weights and cool crust on wire racks

Pastry cream:

In a medium-sized stainless steel bowl, mix sugar & egg yolks with a wooden spoon, careful not to let mixture sit too long to prevent pieces of egg from forming

Whisk flour & cornstarch together separately, then add to egg mixture & mix until you have a smooth paste

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine the milk & vanilla over medium heat until boiling. (Caution! The milk will foam up fast so watch carefully)

Remove from heat & slowly add to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling

Place back into saucepan & cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly

Once it is boiling, whisk for another 30 seconds until it thickens & is hard to stir.

Remove from heat, immediately whisk in liquor

Pour into clean bowl, immediately cover with plastic wrap (to prevent crust from forming) & refrigerate until needed (can make up to three days in advance, beating to dissolve any lumps that may form)

Apricot glaze:

Heat preserves & water (if using instead of liquor) over medium heat in a small saucepan until melted (liquid)

Remove from heat, add liquor (if not using water)

Strain through a fine strainer to remove fruit chunks

Let cool until warm, glaze the pastry crust

Let the glaze on the pastry tart dry for 30 minutes

To assemble tart:

Place your hand under the middle of the tart pan, touching only the removable bottom (not the sides). As you push up, the tart ring will fall off, sliding down your arm. Gently transfer tart to servin g dish or cake stand by sliding a knife between the tart & bottom of tart dish.

Spread pastry cream in tart dish

Arrange fruit however you please, trying to cover as much of the pastry cream as possible.

Reheat the extra glaze & brush the fruit with a light coat to create a shiny look

Serve immediately, or refrigerate (remove 30 minutes prior to serving to bring to room temperature).

Tools

Comments

Permalink Ashley E
January 11, 2011

This looks so pretty! Great recipe for my new tart pan :)

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A snippet from bottomlesskitchen.com:

"...And, since you can mix it up with the fruit topping, you can make a unique tart each time. Lastly, if you choose to make the dough & filling ahead of time like ELZ did, the assembly process can be quick & easy the next day."