Classic Fruit Tart

   

Fruit tarts are one of my favorite desserts. Despite being straightforward to make, the flavors of the cream and the fruit meld together to create a complex flavor profile. This tart is a great and delicious way to use up any extra egg yolks sitting in your fridge. 

Classic Fruit Tart

Makes one 10-inch fruit tart

Recipe adapted from The Flavor Bender and Culinary Hill 

Ingredients: 

for the shell: 

7 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

for the cream: 

2 cups whole milk

6 tbsp sugar

1/8 tsp salt

3 tbsp corn starch

2 tsp vanilla

4 egg yolks (about 80 grams)

3 tbsp butter

to decorate: 

assorted fruit

apricot jam

Instructions: 

1. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks, corn starch, salt and sugar. In a saucepan, heat milk until it begins to steam (do NOT allow the milk to come to a boil). 

2. Remove milk from heat immediately. Pour 1/3 of the milk into the egg mixture to temper it. Stir until combined, then pour the entire mixture back into the pot with the milk. 

3. Stir continuously over medium-low heat until custard bubbles. The bubbles should be large and come to the surface slowly. Do not be worried if the custard does not seem to change texture for a long time; the change occurs suddenly. 

4. Stir in butter until fully incorporated. Press the custard through a sieve into a large bowl. Then cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap onto the surface of the custard to prevent skin formation. Chill until completely cool, at least 1 hour. 

5. To make the shell, cream butter and powdered sugar together until smooth, then stir in egg and vanilla. Add in flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until just combined. Refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour. 

7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough out to around 1/8 inch thick, then press into pie pan. Fill with pie weights, and bake for 12 minutes. Remove pie weights and bake for 10-15 more minutes, or until golden brown. 

8. Allow shell to cool completely. Then remove pastry cream from refrigerator and whisk until smooth. Add cream into pie shell, then top with assorted fruit. Glaze with apricot jam. 

9. Allow to set before cutting, at least 1 hour in the fridge.