Fruit tart is such a great summer dessert – it’s colorful, tempting, delicious and such a great classic dessert.
This modern fruit tart is taking the classic up a notch – the fruits at the top are arranged in a more modern way that the classical fan, and the result is simply stunning.
It’s made of a golden buttery crust filled with almonds cream, vanilla pastry cream and lots of fresh summer fruits at the top.
Modern Fruit Tart
For the crust:
- 150 grams all-purpose flour
- 100 grams cold butter cut into cubes
- 40 grams powdered sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 1-2 tablespoons of milk (as needed)
For almond cream:
- 100 grams almond meal
- 100 grams light brown sugar
- 100 grams cold butter (cut into cubes)
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp. Amaretto liqueur or brandy
- 30 grams all-purpose flour or cornstarch
- 1 large egg
For vanilla pastry cream:
- 250 ml. milk
- ½ vanilla bean pod (halved and scraped with seeds (or 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste))
- 2 large egg yolks
- 70 grams sugar
- 25 grams cornstarch
- 30 grams soft butter (cut into cubes)
For decoration:
- Seasonal fruits (raspberries, grapes, blueberries, pineapple, mango, kiwi etc.)
- Some décor gel for glazing
Crust:
- In a food processor with a steel blade, put flour, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt and process until a crumbly mixture is obtained.
- Add the yolk and continue to blend until large chunks of dough form. If the dough does not combine into large chunks – gradually add a little water.
- Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, flatten it with your hands and cover in plastic wrap.
- Cool in the refrigerator for about an hour.
- On a floured work surface roll out the dough to a 3-4 mm thick and arrange it in the pan to form a crust. Make sure to create a right angle between the sides and the bottom.
- Pierce the base of the crust with a fork and cool in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 170c degrees.
- Blind baking:
- Place a sheet of crumpled baking paper on top of the crust and fill with dry beans or special baking weights.
- Bake the tart crust this way for 10-12 minutes.
- Remove the weights and the paper and continue to bake the tartelettes for another 8-10 minutes until lightly golden.
- Cool completely.
Almond cream:
- In a food processor with steel blade place almond meal, sugar, butter, salt and amaretto and blend until crumbly mixture obtains.
- Add flour and egg and continue to blend until thick almond cream forms.
- Fill the crust with almonds cream and straighten the top with a palate.
- Return to baking for about 10-15 minutes until golden and set.
- Cool completely at room temperature.
Vanilla pastry cream:
- In a small pot, put milk and vanilla together and heat to a simmer.
- In a medium bowl, whisk well egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch into a uniform, thick mixture.
- Add about 1/3 of the boiling milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture while stirring vigorously until uniform mixture is obtained.
- Drain the mixture back into the pot with the remaining milk and mix well.
- Return the mixture to cooking over medium flame and continue to cook while mixing constantly until thick, stable pastry cream is created.
- Remove from heat and add butter. Mix until it melts and you get a smooth cream.
- Pour the cream into a relatively flat container and cover with plastic wrap.
- Cool for 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.
- When the cream is cold, transfer it to a medium bowl, and then whisk it well until it returns to the original creamy texture.
Assemble the tart:
- Fill the baked tart with pastry cream and straighten the top with a palate knife.
- Decorate with fresh fruits and glaze them with some décor gel.
- The tart is kept in the fridge for up to 3 days, but at its best on the day or two after preparation.
- You can use any fruit you like and combine between different kinds.
- Instead of almond meal you can use any other grind nuts you like.
- You can also make the recipe in a 20*20 cm square tart pan or 10*30 cm rectangular tart pan.