Fruit Tart Recipe

Hello people!!

I know I know, last post was way back in April.

Should I write a long post as to what was happening during this time or should I keep it short and simple?

Let’s go with the latter.

1) It started with my cousin’s marriage and he ordered his wedding cake from me. It was quite nerve racking as his wedding was held at the beautiful Gardens By The Bay and I was worried that my cake might not live up to the expectations of that massive venue. My cousin and his fiance seemed all chilled. I was a wreck!

Anyways it took me a few days of putting my heart and soul in the cake right from the flowers to the cakes itself. The cake was a chocolate marble nutella, and the 100 cupcakes were a mix of cookies and cream with chocolate ganache and blueberry cupcakes with buttercream. It went on well and I really enjoyed the whole process and the couple were happy too. #happyending

2) Then it was Ramadan and Eid. These 2 months are mostly a busy period for me. From a lot of baking in Ramadan to having a lot of guests over during Eid. You get the drill.

3) My brother has not been keeping too well recently, thus it involved a bit of shuffling of the daily routine too with mom being at the hospital everyday.

4) The biggest thing is, we would be moving to a new place next month!!! Can you tell I am excited?? Is it showing too much?? No right???

We started house hunting somewhere in April and I eventually got the keys on 26th June. The house is currently under renovation and should be ready in 2 weeks.

Every girl dreams of a walk in wardrobe but I would rather have a walk in pantry. The size of the houses in Singapore are not massive so that was not on my list but my dream to have 2 ovens in the kitchen has eventually materialized. Imagine being able to bake 4 cakes at the same time!! And 4 tarts!! And 100 cookies at once!!!

Okay calm down Maya, calm down.

Let’s talk about these fruit tarts instead.

I absolutely adore a good fruit tart.

There are usually 4 components to a classic fruit tart:

• A sweet, buttery crust
• Vanilla pastry cream
• Fresh fruits
• A glaze

There is just something about the buttery crust, creamy pastry and refreshing fruits coming all together.

For a fruit tart, the pastry is usually the most time-consuming part of the recipe. But it’s nothing crazy really. Yes, a fruit tart can be a tad labourous but the good thing is, the components of this Fruit Tart can easily be made a day in advance.

The crust is also know as pate sucree. It is buttery, mildly sweet and makes the perfect shell to hold the filling.

The classic filling for a fruit tart is creme patisserie or also known as pastry cream. It is a custard made from milk, vanilla, sugar and eggs while some cornstarch is used as a thickening agent. Just as I said earlier, this can be made 1 or 2 days in advance. Just give it a quick whisk before assembling the tart to get rid of any lumps formed.

The thing that you would notice first on a fruit tart is obviously the fruits! You can use a variety of fruits here. Nothing with high water content though, example watermelon. Peaches, berries are generally my favorite especially when fresh berries are in season! Berries are delicious and make such a beautiful presentation.

You can also use kiwis, apricots, mangoes, nectarines….etc. Whichever fruit/fruits you decide to use, do give it a glaze with some apricot jam as this would gives the fruits a nice shine + it prevents the fruits from drying out.

This Fruit Tart Recipe is a keeper. However, It is best to assemble the tart on the day you want to serve it. This way the shell remains crisp and the fruits fresh. Obviously if you have leftovers, it is perfectly fine to savor this the next day too. I repeat, IF you have leftovers.

5.0 from 3 reviews

Fruit Tart Recipe

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

60 mins

Total time

1 hour 30 mins

 

Author: Maya Kitchenette

Serves: 8

Ingredients

For the crust (Makes one 9-inch tart)

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 140g very cold salted butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 large egg yolk

For the pastry cream

• 2 cups whole milk
• 6 large egg yolks
• ½ cup sugar
• ⅓ cup cornstarch, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3½ tablespoons salted butter, cut into bits at room temperature

For the topping

• Mixed fruits and berries
• ¼ cup apricot jelly/jam

Instructions

For the crust

1. Put the flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt in a bowl anc combine well
2. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and use your fingertips to rub until the butter is the size of peas.
3. Stir the egg, and add it a little at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly, knead the dough just to incorporate any loose dry ingredients.
5. Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C.
7. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side-down, tightly against the crust.
8. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet, and bake the crust for 25 minutes.
9. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust is puffy, use the back of a spoon to gently press it down.
10. Bake for another 8 minutes or so, until the crust is golden brown.
11. Transfer the crust to a wire rack (still in the pan), and let it cool to room temperature before filling.

For the pastry cream

1. Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and keep it aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the yolks with the sugar and cornstarch until well blended. Still whisking, drizzle in about ¼ cup of the hot milk to temper the yolks so they won’t curdle.
3. Whisking the entire time, slowly pour in the remainder of the milk.
4. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously, constantly and thoroughly (to the edges of the pot), bring the mixture to a boil.
5. Keep it at a boil. still whisking, for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat.
6. Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
7. Whisk in the butter until the bits are fully incorporated and the pastry cream is smooth.
8. Scrape the cream into a bowl, and place the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water. Stir the pastry cream occasionally until it is completely chilled, about 20 minutes.
9. You can store the filling in the fridge till ready to use.

To assemble

1. Spoon enough of the Pastry Cream into the tart to come almost to the rim, and smooth the surface.
2. Lay the fruits on top of the cream.
3. Bring the jelly and 1 tsp of water to a boil in the microwave or on the stove-top.
4. Using a pastry brush, brush the fruits with the jelly.

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