Fresh Fruit Tart has got to be the most elegant, the most attractive and the the most French of all desserts, don’t you agree? It is also one of my favourites. A perfectly made short crust topped with a velvety vanilla creme patisserie and the sweetest and juiciest of summer fruits… If that doesn’t sound like heaven, I don’t know what does :):)
This time I made my favourite dessert in honour of meeting one of my very dear friends that I got to know through Instagram. Yes that’s how I met Inci, on social media. I first followed and admired her work very quietly, as I am the shy type, then slowly slowly started the endless chats :):) We quickly discovered how alike we were with a big passion for good food and baking. She also has an impressive knowledge of world cuisine and shares her recipes on her bilingual (Turkish/English) food blog with an extensive recipe archive www.incitadinda.com . This should give you an idea of how excited and nervous I was to have her over for lunch. But as soon as she walked through the door with her two children I felt at such an ease as if I knew them for forever.
Such a special get together had to end with a special dessert of course and it all depended on what I found at the market. That’s usually how I cook and bake, instead of having an idea and searching the ingredients for it, I let the ingredients lead me. As the farmers market offered me the sweetest of figs, plump and juicy blackberries and freshly picked strawberries the decision was easily made. A fresh fruit tart is as impressive as it is delicious and loved by everyone.
Contarary to popular belief it is not that difficult to make pâte sucrée, aka sweet shortcrust pastry but it certainly requires a little care. If you follow a few very crutial steps there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to make a perfectly crumbly crust. I use a couple of different methods to make a shortcrust pastry. One of them is made by using very cold butter and needs to be made and wrapped pretty quickly. I don’t want to further talk about it and confuse you because today we’ll be using the other method and use soft, room temp butter. If I have to be honest the pastry made with this method is a little trickier to work with as the dough is very soft, but trust me, at the end it will all be worth it.
I really like this crust for fruit tarts and will be sharing recipes using the other method in the future. Now let’s talk about how to make a perfectly crumbly shortcrust pastry.
- First important rule when making shortcrust pastry is to NOT overwork the dough. Too much mixing and kneading will cause the gluten to develop, making the dough difficult to work with and produce a tough crust.
- Chilling the dough well is another very important step. Wrap your dough and chill thoroughly before rolling out, this will keep the butter firm and the dough manageable. After lining your tin with the dough you will need to chill it again before baking. The second and probably more important resting period allows the gluten strands time to adjust to their new position in the tin after being streched during rolling out. If you miss this step and don’t let the dough rest, it will shrink during baking. You’ll end up with a crust that doesn’t have any sides (personally experienced :):) ). So place your lined tart tin in the fridge and chill for 45 minutes or in the freezer for 20. The second resting will also help the fat in the dough to firm up again after rolling out and that will produce a crumbly texture.
- Sifting the flour to get rid of lumps will help to make a smooth dough without having to overwork it.
- Try to use a minimum amount of flour while rolling the dough, better yet roll between two pieces of baking parchment. Too much flour will result in a tough crust.
- Careful rolling and shaping is also important for a uniform thickness so it will bake evenly and won’t break.
- If the dough gets too soft while rolling and lining, just place in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.
- The dough will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days and 2 months in the freezer.
Pricking the base of the pastry with a fork then lining with parchment and filling with beans will prevent it from rising in the oven.
- SWEET SHORTCRUST PASTRY - PÂTE SUCRÉE
- 250 gr flour
- 150 gr butter, at room temp
- 75 gr powdered sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1-2 tsp vanilla extract
- a pinch of salt
- .
- VANILLA CREME PAT
- 450 ml milk
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 vanilla bean
- 75 gr granulated sugar
- 40 gr corn starch
- 30 gr butter
- .
- Fresh seasonal fruit
- To prepare the pastry beat soft butter with powdered sugar in your stand mixer until pale and fluffy.
- Add in the egg yolks, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt and continue beating for a couple of minutes.
- Add the flour and mix on the lowest speed just until the flour disappears.
- Toss it all on a piece of plastic wrap and bring it together. Form a disk with the help of the plastic as it will be too soft to handle. Remember NO KNEADING! Wrap tightly and refrigerate for 2 hours.
- To make the creme patisserie bring milk to boiling point with the empty vanilla bean.
- Whisk egg yolks with sugar and the vanilla seeds using an electric whisk for a few minutes until pale. Then add the corn starch and mix well.
- Pour the hot milk slowly into the egg mixture while whisking continuously.
- Pour it all back into the sauce pan. Cook over medium low heat until it thickens for about 5-6 minutes, stirring all the time.
- Remove from the heat and mix in butter, beat until smooth and completely blended.
- Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin forming, making sure that the plastic is in contact with the cream.
- When it comes to room temp, refrigerate.
- Butter and flour the sides of the tart tin and place a piece of parchment on the bottom.
- Roll the chilled dough between two pieces of parchment paper to a thickness of an ⅛ of an inch (3-4 mm) Gently place on the prepared tart tin and remove excess. Rest in the fridge for about 45 minutes or in the freezer for 20.
- Preheat oven to 170 C (340 F).
- Prick the base of the crust with a fork and line with parchment. Fill with baking beans and blind bake for 25 minutes. Remove the beans and the paper and bake for a further 15 minutes until golden and fully cooked.
- Let cool in the tin.
- Beat the cold creme pat with an electric whisk for 15-20 seconds to make it smooth and spreadable.
- Fill the tart crust with the cream and smooth with a rubber spatula.
- Top with the fruit of your choice and chill for a couple of hours before serving.
One of the most important things for me when making Vanilla Creme Patissiere is to never add the vanilla seeds to the milk. While heating a skin forms over the milk and the seeds get trapped under, when we remove this skin we end up losing most of those precious seeds too. To avoid this always add the seeds to the eggs and the empty pod to the milk.
The crust and the creme pat can be prepared a few days ahead but bake the crust on the day you want to serve it. I wouldn't assemble the tart too early either, a few hours is plenty. If you have no choice but prepare it a day ahead you should brush the fruit with unflavoured gelatine so they don't dry out and keep their vibrant colour.
If you are using a big or unusually shaped tin you might have some difficulty lining it with the pastry. In this case I usually roll a piece of the dough to fit the bottom then cut narrow strips for the sides. If it gets too soft just chill a little before you carry on.