Apparently, baking up a nice fruit tart is high-stakes drama (sarcasm).
At least according to Fox’s ‘Masterchef’, a competition of home cooks out to prove themselves before over-the-top chef Gordon Ramsay (word in the industry is he’s actually a nice guy).
In one episode the show’s producers portrayed a tart as an intense, risky, highly sensitive baking venture. I laughed all the way to the commercial break because tarts are so simple, the crust is as easy as one, two, three!
Sugar Cookie Dough Tart Crust
I learned how to create the beautiful tarts lining the display cases of every French patisserie from a chef at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France. Truth be told, a little time and know-how are your main ingredients.
The easiest way to a tart shell is with a sugar cookie dough. But if you don’t cream the butter and sugar just right, you could completely upset the space-time continuum (more sarcasm).
Sugar cookies are literally as easy as 1-2-3 (see below). And while available as pre-made dough in every grocery store around, baking at home allows you to experiment with flavorings, or go vegan or gluten-free.
The 1-2-3 Formula
If you’ve ever heard of 1-2-3 cookie dough, that is exactly what I’m talking about here. It’s a very common professional baker’s formula for crafting sugar cookie dough. And is literally as easy as 1… 2… 3!
1-2-3 Cookie Dough Formula
1 part fat + 2 parts sugar + 3 parts flour
by weight*
Any baking formula you come across will most likely use weight measurements.
And if you have a scale, you can easily get a cookie dough going in less than five minutes. If you don’t have a scale, a basic sugar cookie dough recipe will look like this:
- 1 stick butter, softened (4 ounces)
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (8 ounces)
- 2⅔ cups all-purpose flour (12 ounces)
- pinch of salt
When making cookie dough for a tart crust, I don’t use an egg. But for a classic rolled and cut-out sugar cookie, you can beat in the following before the dry ingredients:
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons of citrus zest, or ground spices like cardamom, nutmeg or cinnamon
For a lighter sugar cookie with a little rise, add one-quarter teaspoon of baking powder for every cup of flour. Whisk the baking powder with the flour before beating them into the batter.
The Creaming Method
Mixing up 1-2-3 cookie dough is quick and simple, especially if you keep some of your butter at room temperature. If you bake at home, you’re probably an old pro at the creaming method.
First cream the sugar and the fat, beat in any eggs and extracts, then gently mix in the dry ingredients.
- Beat (cream) the butter with the sugar until lightened in color and doubled in volume. This takes about five minutes.
- Add any eggs one at a time, scraping the bottom of the bowl, and the beater, to keep the batter as smooth as possible.
- Beat in any extracts or citrus zest here, too.
- Slowly, in several additions, beat in the dry ingredients at low speed.
Rolling + Baking
Be sure to roll the dough out to EXACTLY a quarter-inch thick, then blind bake it at exactly the right temperature (last bit of sarcasm).
You’ll absolutely ruin your life and the life of anyone within a 50-mile radius of your kitchen if you don’t.
Kidding, of course.
But you do want to chill any dough before rolling or baking it. This lets the dough rest – literally chill out from all the mixing action – and gives it a more delicate crumb.
Chilling dough also makes it easier to roll. If you mix your dough ahead of time and it’s rock-solid, let it sit on the counter for about 30 minutes before you roll it out.
I love making mini tarts, much less pressure and the rolling process is more forgiving. Rolling a sticky dough between two sheets of parchment paper is a great technique for eliminating the need for extra flour that can toughen the crust. And allows for quick and easy clean-up!
Blind-baking, or lining the raw dough with dried beans, rice, or even spare change before baking, helps keep the crust from shrinking back in the pan.
Dietary Variations
Need dairy-free? Reach for your favorite vegan or dairy-free butter.
Are you gluten-free? I tend to experiment with different combinations of gluten-free flours like almond, oat, or tapioca. But for a super-easy switch to gluten-free, a 1:1 gluten-free blend works great here.
My favorite cup-for-cup gluten-free flours are Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour and Better Batter. For less starch and a little more nutrients, Bob’s All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour Blend is legume-based and also makes for a nice crust.
Vegan? Ditch the egg and use your favorite butter alternative. I rarely use an egg when mixing cookie dough destined for tarts. I love Miyoko’s or Earth’s Balance Soy Free sticks both for their lack of mystery ingredients, monounsaturated fat content, and great flavors.
The Pastry Cream
Now that you’ve avoided a mid-life crisis by succeeding at your tart shells (seriously), be sure to stir the pastry cream vigorously as it thickens on the stove. Or your pot and Gordon Ramsey will explode with anger (not serious).
For me, a smooth, sweet creamy pastry cream is one of life’s great treasures. But really what we’re talking about here is pudding.
And the secret to a silky smooth pudding is low heat, and constant whisking.
Ingredients
While you do need the right amount of sugar and thickener (cornstarch) for a great pudding, eggs and butter are a professional baker’s secret to a luscious, silky, rich pastry cream. Go figure, right?
- 2 cups milk, whole or 2% recommended
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, unsalted
- Pinch salt
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
The Tempering Method
In order to avoid ending up with sweet scrambled eggs and hot milk, first heat the milk mixture, then drizzle the hot milk into the eggs slowly.
This tempers the blow, if you will, of the near-boiling temperature which would otherwise scramble an egg in an instant.
The steps for tempering eggs for pastry cream look like this:
- Combine half of the sugar, half the milk, and salt in a saucepot. Bring just to a boil over high heat.
- While the mixture is coming to a boil, combine cornstarch and remaining sugar in a medium heatproof bowl. Whisk in the remaining milk to make a slurry (thick starch-liquid mixture). Gently stir eggs into the slurry.
- Once the mixture reaches a boil, slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture whisking vigorously.
- Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the pot, and turn the heat down to medium-low.
- Whisk constantly until pastry cream comes to a slow boil, with just a few large bubbles breaking the surface.
- Pour into a bowl, and whisk in the butter until it melts. Press plastic wrap over the surface and pole a few holes to vent it while it cools.
Picking Fruit
For any dessert, but fruit tarts especially, the quality of the fruit counts.
Do your best to find the ripest, juiciest in-season fruit. Look for rich, bright colors on berries specifically, and for strawberries, there should not be any white around the stem. This means the strawberry was picked too soon.
For stone fruits like peaches, plums, and apricots, pick fruit free of bruises that give to your touch. Just be careful not to pick overripe stone fruit that is mushy, as these will be tricky to slice and handle.
With Kids
The fruit step is actually a GREAT time to call the kiddos into the kitchen. These particular tarts bought me fifteen minutes of peace and quiet.
SCORE.
Final Thoughts
Have all your wits about you when you set out to make a fruit tart. Like Masterchef demonstrates, it’s a precarious project.
You wouldn’t want to risk all that sweet and tart, creamy and crunchy goodness falling on your head. Or worse, directly into your mouth.
Toddler smushed berries and all.
Yours in not-so-tricky tarts,
Christina
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Fresh Fruit Tart
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25-45 minutes
- Total Time: 53 minute
- Yield: A 10” or 11” tart, or 6 mini tarts 1x
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French
Description
The tart dough here is a basic sugar cookie recipe known as 1-2-3 cookie dough. It refers to the ratio by weight of sugar:fat:flour (in that order). Leftover dough can be baked into cookies of any size, shape or form. Simply bake at 350°F until the bottoms of the cookies just begin to brown.
This pastry cream is essentially a thick vanilla pudding lightened with whipped cream to make it silky and luscious. And I dare say we all know what to do with excess vanilla pudding.
Ingredients
Tart Shell(s)
- 8 ounces butter, unsalted, softened (2 sticks)
- ½ cup/4 ounces granulated sugar
- pinch salt
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, optional
- 2 ¼ cups/12 oz cake, pastry or all-purpose flour
Pastry Cream
- 2 cups milk, whole or 2% recommended
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter, unsalted
- Pinch salt
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
To Finish
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons granulated or confectioner’s sugar
- Fresh berries or sliced fruit
Instructions
Bake Tart Shell(s)
- With a stand or hand mixer, beat butter, sugar, and salt on medium-high speed until smooth and lightened in color.
- Add egg and then vanilla, scraping down the bowl and paddle.
- At low speed slowly add flour until dough comes together in a cohesive mass.
- Form into a flat disc, wrap in plastic and chill for at least two hours. This can be done a few days ahead and chilled, or frozen.
- On a lightly floured surface or between pieces of parchment paper, roll dough to a quarter-inch thickness, and at least an inch larger than your tart pan. For mini tarts, use a knife to cut out circles a little larger than your shells.
- Gently press the rolled dough into the bottom of the shell(s) and up the sides. Roll the pin along the top of tart shells to remove excess overhang.
- Freeze the shells for twenty minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line shells with foil or parchment and fill with pie weights, dried beans, spare change, or rice.
- Bake mini shells for 10-20 minutes, remove the weights, and bake until edges begin to brown and the bottom is cooked through. A large tart will need more time, around 20 minutes with the weights, then 20 more minutes after taking the weights off.
- Cool completely before removing it from the pan(s).
Prepare Pastry Cream
- Combine half of the sugar, salt, and half of the milk in a saucepot. Bring just to a boil over high heat.
- While the mixture is coming to a boil, combine the cornstarch and remaining sugar in a medium heatproof bowl. Whisk in the remaining milk to make a slurry (thick starch-liquid mixture). Then gently stir eggs into the slurry.
- Once the milk reaches a boil, slowly pour the hot mixture into the egg mixture, whisking vigorously. This tempers the heat into eggs so they don’t curdle or scramble.
- Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the pot, and turn the heat down to medium.
- Whisk constantly until pastry cream comes to a slow boil, with just a few large bubbles breaking the surface.
- Pour into a bowl, whisk in the butter until melted, and press plastic wrap over the surface.
- If your cooked cream has lumps, you can strain through a fine-mesh sieve. Poke a few holes in plastic wrap to vent, and cool in the refrigerator.
- Fill the baked tart shells with the chilled vanilla pastry cream, or follow the directions below to make diplomat cream (pastry cream lightened with whip cream).
Diplomat Cream
- Whip heavy cream with sugar to soft peaks, and fold gently into pastry cream until combined.
- Transfer the cream to a pastry bag (no tip) or large plastic baggie, and snip one corner to make a half-inch hole.
- Pipe cream into tart shells so it almost comes all the way up the sides.
- Layer fresh fruit on top. Store chilled, serve room temperature.
Notes
For a gluten-free tart (like the ones pictured here), simply replace the all-purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend. I like Bob’s Red Mill or Better Batter.
Keywords: tart recipe, fruit tart, pastry crust, sugar cookie dough, pastry cream, diplomat cream, desserts, baking with kids
Ryan Rose says
I love homemade tarts. These looks absolutely delicious!