A fresh fruit tart is a beautiful way to put your fruit salad on display. That is, before eating it, of course. It also makes fantastic use of a leftover sweet tart/dough and pastry cream. Top it all off with apricot glaze and the thing just seems perfect. For those who are kitchen savvy and adventurous, building a dessert like this can be quite fun and this recipe covers it all. For those who prefer a simpler way, they can simply buy each component mentioned from the store instead and skip to the assembly directions at the end of this recipe.

The recipe

Sweet tart ingredients

  • 1 stick of unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Pastry cream ingredients

  • 1-pint milk
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup egg yolks
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Fruit salad ingredients

  • 1 apple, cored
  • 16 mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, cranberries or raspberries)
  • 4 kiwi fruit, quartered
  • 8 pineapple chunks (canned is preferred)

Glaze ingredients

  • 2 oz apricot jam, melted

The directions

Sweet tart directions

  1. Cream together the butter and powdered sugar in a stand mixer running on medium speed.
  2. Add the egg and continue creaming until fully incorporated. Stop the stand mixer and scrape down the bowl. Add the vanilla and restart the stand mixer. Continue until fully incorporated.
  3. Add the flour and salt to the stand mixer while it's still on and switch to low speed. Continue mixing it becomes a soft dough. Don't overmix.
  4. Drop the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment and press it down evenly. Cover the dough with plastic and chill in the refrigerator for an hour or overnight.
  5. When it's time to bake, preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the chilled dough onto a flat surface covered in flour and roll it out to a 1/2" thickness. If the chilled dough crumbles, simply press it together using fingers.
  6. Gently line the inside of a 9" tart pan with the dough and trim its edges. Wrap the entire pan with plastic and chill in the freezer for 30 minutes or until firm.
  7. Line the inside of dough shell with parchment and place pie weights inside it. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the shell, then remove the weight and parchment from within it. Return the shell to the oven and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes.
  8. Remove the finished sweet tart shell and place it onto a rack to cool.

Pastry cream directions

  1. Whisk together the milk and half of the sugar into a non-reactive saucepan. and bring to a low boil over medium heat.
  2. Whisk together the egg yolks, cornstarch, and remaining sugar in a bowl. Add 1/4 of the hot milk to the yolk mixture and whisk together to temper it. Add the tempered mixture to the remaining milk in the saucepan and whisk it together while it simmers for 3 minutes or until the liquid becomes thick.
  3. Remove from the heat and fold in the butter. Do not overmix or the custard will become too thin.
  4. Transfer the mousseline pastry cream to a bowl and cover with plastic. Place the bowl over an ice bath to cool.

Fruit salad directions

  1. Wash the fruit and dry it in a kitchen cloth. If the fruit is frozen, let it thaw in room temperature first.
  2. Core the apple on a green board, then slice it into small chunks. Transfer to a bowl and add the berries.
  3. Add the pineapple chunks to the bowl. if using canned pineapple chunks, drain the water from the can and pick out 8 chunks, store the rest.
  4. Carefully toss the fruit around a bit. Cover the bowl with plastic and refrigerate if not ready.

Glaze directions

  1. Pour the apricot jam into a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir the jam while it cooks.
  2. Remove the jam from the heat when it fully melts. Set aside to cool.

Assembly directions

  1. Fill the sweet tart shell with the pastry cream.
  2. Arrange the fruit over the pastry cream, making sure the berries fill every spot.
  3. Brush the top of the fruit with the apricot glaze.