Modern Fruit Tart

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Modern Fruit Tart

Photo: Natalie Levin

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

Photo: Natalie Levin



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:

  1. In a food processor with a steel blade, put flour, butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt and process until a crumbly mixture is obtained.
  2. 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.
  3. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface, flatten it with your hands and cover in plastic wrap.
  4. Cool in the refrigerator for about an hour.
  5. 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.
  6. Pierce the base of the crust with a fork and cool in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
  7. Preheat oven to 170c degrees.
  8. Blind baking:
  9. Place a sheet of crumpled baking paper on top of the crust and fill with dry beans or special baking weights.
  10. Bake the tart crust this way for 10-12 minutes.
  11. Remove the weights and the paper and continue to bake the tartelettes for another 8-10 minutes until lightly golden.
  12. Cool completely.

Almond cream:

  1. In a food processor with steel blade place almond meal, sugar, butter, salt and amaretto and blend until crumbly mixture obtains.
  2. Add flour and egg and continue to blend until thick almond cream forms.
  3. Fill the crust with almonds cream and straighten the top with a palate.
  4. Return to baking for about 10-15 minutes until golden and set.
  5. Cool completely at room temperature.

Vanilla pastry cream:

  1. In a small pot, put milk and vanilla together and heat to a simmer.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk well egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch into a uniform, thick mixture.
  3. Add about 1/3 of the boiling milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture while stirring vigorously until uniform mixture is obtained.
  4. Drain the mixture back into the pot with the remaining milk and mix well.
  5. Return the mixture to cooking over medium flame and continue to cook while mixing constantly until thick, stable pastry cream is created.
  6. Remove from heat and add butter. Mix until it melts and you get a smooth cream.
  7. Pour the cream into a relatively flat container and cover with plastic wrap.
  8. Cool for 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.
  9. 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:

  1. Fill the baked tart with pastry cream and straighten the top with a palate knife.
  2. 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.

Modern Fruit Tart

Photo: Natalie Levin

Modern Fruit Tart

Photo: Natalie Levin