French fruit tart
A French tarte aux fruits is three elements assembled only at the end: crisp pastry, pastry cream and raw fruit. Order matters — the shell must be completely cold, the cream fully chilled and the fruit thoroughly dried, or the pastry quickly goes soft.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Shortcrust pastry 15 min
- Chilling 60 min
- Baking the shell 25 min
- Crème pâtissière 20 min
- Chilling the cream 120 min
- Assembling 20 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneMake and chill the pastry
Cut the cold butter into the flour, icing sugar and salt, add the yolk and water and bring together quickly. Flatten into a disc and chill for an hour. This pastry should be short, not elastic — do not knead it.
Ingredients: 220 g plain flour · 120 g butter · 60 g icing sugar · 1 pcs egg yolk · ¼ tsp salt · 20 ml water
Blind bake the shell
Roll the pastry out 3 mm thick and line a 26 cm tart tin, prick the base, add paper and baking beans. Bake at 180°C for 18 minutes, remove the beans and bake 7 minutes more until evenly golden. Cool completely.
Ingredients: 220 g plain flour · 120 g butter · 60 g icing sugar · 1 pcs egg yolk · ¼ tsp salt · 20 ml water
An evenly golden and completely dry shell.Cook the pastry cream
Bring the milk to the boil with the split vanilla pod and its scraped seeds, then remove the pod. Whisk the yolks with sugar and starch, pour in a thread of hot milk while whisking, then return everything to the pan. Cook, stirring, until it thickens and bubbles for 60 seconds.
Ingredients: 500 ml milk · 4 pcs egg yolks · 100 g sugar · 40 g potato starch · 1 pcs vanilla pod · 30 g butter
TipThe cream must bubble for a minute — only then does the starch fully set and the cream will not thin in the fridge.
The whisk leaves a deep trail — the cream is ready.Chill the cream under film
Stir in the butter, transfer the cream to a shallow dish and press film directly onto the surface. Chill for 2 hours. Film touching the cream is the simplest way to avoid a skin.
Ingredients: 500 ml milk · 4 pcs egg yolks · 100 g sugar · 40 g potato starch · 1 pcs vanilla pod · 30 g butter
Assemble the tart
Whisk the chilled cream smooth again and spread it into the cold shell. Arrange the dried fruit in concentric rings, working from the outside in.
Ingredients: 300 g strawberries · 150 g blueberries · 130 g raspberries · 3 tbsp apricot jam
TipAfter washing, spread the fruit on a towel for 15 minutes. Wet fruit weeps and softens the cream.
Outside in — the easiest way to get even rings.Glaze
Warm the apricot jam with a spoonful of water, push it through a sieve and brush a thin layer over the fruit. The glaze adds shine and stops the fruit drying out.
Ingredients: 300 g strawberries · 150 g blueberries · 130 g raspberries · 3 tbsp apricot jam
Before you start
Split it over two days
Make the shell and cream the day before (keep the cream in the fridge). Assemble no more than 3 hours before serving and keep the tart refrigerated until then — after that the pastry starts to soften.
A chocolate barrier
Brush the cooled shell with a thin layer of melted white chocolate. It forms a seal and keeps the pastry crisp for longer.
Choosing fruit
Avoid fruit that weeps heavily, such as watermelon or very ripe peaches. Berries, kiwi, grapes and strawberries hold up best.
