Happy Independence Day weekend everyone! Since this is a historical holiday, I am going to start today's post with a history lesson on our recipe for the day: a fruit tart.
Fruit tarts originated in the medieval ages (the same time period that brought us other hits such as pies and turnovers). The first tarts were meat or savory, but a trend gave rise to sweet tarts (not the candy, those didn't come around until 1963). Colorful fruit was used in intricate designs to make pretty tarts for banquets. Color was added to eggs and fruits were dried to intensify the colors.
So today we are going to make a traditionalbeef tart fruit tart in patriotic US flag colors. What better dessert to make than one that takes advantage of all the gorgeous strawberries and blueberries in season. If you are good, maybe I will add some blackberries too, even though they don't go with the color palette perfectly.
There are several ways to make a fruit tart. The first place to start is with the crust. I am going to have to admit that this is a step where normally I would cut corners and use some store bought sugar cookie dough to make the crust. But I will never get my sugar cookie skills down if I keep doing that. So, for all you loyal readers, I am going to make a sugar cookie crust from scratch. Now, you can make the crust in any pan you have around, but I have found that a foil pizza pan is about the right size and easy to to get and you don't have to worry about taking it home because you can just throw it in the recycling (we are earth friendly here at Tort(e). Recycle, reuse, reduce people!). If you happen to own a tart pan, then by all means use that. Unfortunately my kitchen is too small to keep things like thator like plates and pots in the cabinets. If any of you are so inclined to donate materials to a struggling burgeoning baker, feel free to send this my way:
The tart has a sugar cookie crust as I mentioned. There are also other hidden goodies in there. A thin layer of dark chocolate painted onto the crust? Yes! A layer of thick, creamy and silky pastry cream? You got it! Big beautiful berries? For sure! A shiny, glossy glaze on top? Definitely! Whipped cream? If you want it (and who wouldn't?)!
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So let's get this tart rolling!
The first step is to make the sugar cookie crust.* This recipe is a fairly easy one, with a low sugar content. In my family we have several people who are watching their sugar intake, so this is a good recipe to go with. You can use any recipe you like (or even go with the aforementioned store bought sugar cookie dough).
Print sugar cookie dough recipe
Combine all the dry ingredients, minus the sugar on waxed paper. Make sure your waxed paper is cut large enough. I didn't do this the first time and ended up with flour everywhere. Oops.
Cream together the sugar and butter. Then add eggs and vanilla. You will have something that looks like this:
Then slowly add in the flour mixture. You will want to use a mixer if you have one because it gets kind of stiff after a while with all the flour. However, this is, of course, a good way to get an arms workout if you have been slacking on getting to the gym like I have been. The final dough will look like this:
Now the recipe says to put it in the fridge for an hour. You can do this if you want to roll out the dough to put it into the pan. I usually just press it into the pan, so I don't refrigerate the dough (unless its really warm in the kitchen and the butter is melting like no one's business. Then it gets a chill).
Bake 10 minutes or until the whole cookie looks golden on the edges. Its sometimes hard to tell when it is done because there is a risk of over cooking it. Keep an eye on it and wait until its golden on the edges and no longer looks wet in the middle. It might not be cooked all the way through, but as long as its not raw you are good to go.
Pull it out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.
Source: adapted from food.com, Good Housekeeping
Pastry cream is amazing stuff, just like pate a choux. Not only can you fill pate choux with it to make eclairs, but you can also use it in tarts, trifles, or eat it by thecupful spoonful. You can make it chocolate, raspberry, vanilla or any other flavor you want pretty easily. So here it is, without further ado: pastry cream!*
Print French pastry cream recipe
The first step of silky yumminess is to boil part of the milk. In another bowl whisk the eggs and sugar and the rest of the milk. Then whisk in the cornstarch and flour. Make sure there are no lumps! No one likes lumpy pastry cream.
You will need to temper the egg mixture with the boiled milk. This means adding a little bit of the HOT milk to egg mixture to prevent the eggs from cooking and curdling. As I said before, no one likes lumpy pastry cream. Add 1/3 of the hot milk to the egg mixture slowly. Be sure to constantly whisk the mixture as you add the milk. Then add the remaining milk and whisk until smooth.
Put in saucepan and cook until it is nice and thick and starts to boil, whisking constantly. Then allow to cook for two more minutes.
Remove from heat and add vanilla. Press plastic wrap down on top of the pastry cream. This will prevent a skin from forming on the cream. (Again, no one likes lumpy pastry cream!) Refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.
Source: food.com
To assemble the tart:
Pour pastry cream over crust and spread to edges of crust. You can then spread whipped cream over the pastry cream if you wish.
Arrange fruit as you wish across the top of the tart. Fruit that works well includes: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, tangerines, peaches, plums, kiwi, and any other that you can slice pretty. Be sure to cover the pastry cream completely with the fruit.
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Optional: Melt dark chocolate chips (you will need about 1/2 cup melted chocolate) and brush over sugar cookie crust with a pastry brush. Chill in the fridge for 5 minutes or until the chocolate is set. This is an especially delicious way to take it up a notch. This time around I skipped this step, but if you decide to do this, you won't be disappointed.
Optional: Melt a 1/2 cup of apple (or apricot) jelly in the microwave (high, 30 seconds should do it). Brush the melted jelly over the fruit arranged on the tart. Put in the fridge to chill. Jelly will reset and create a shiny glaze on the tart. Iforgot in my haste skipped this step as well this time around.
* I apologize. I totally had a brain lapse and forgot to take pictures while making the pastry cream and the cookie dough. I only remembered to start doing it when I got to the baking/assembling phase. I promise to update this post with pictures next time I make this.
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| Fruit tarts are patriotic, if you are American, French, or any other red white and blue country. :) |
Fruit tarts originated in the medieval ages (the same time period that brought us other hits such as pies and turnovers). The first tarts were meat or savory, but a trend gave rise to sweet tarts (not the candy, those didn't come around until 1963). Colorful fruit was used in intricate designs to make pretty tarts for banquets. Color was added to eggs and fruits were dried to intensify the colors.
So today we are going to make a traditional
There are several ways to make a fruit tart. The first place to start is with the crust. I am going to have to admit that this is a step where normally I would cut corners and use some store bought sugar cookie dough to make the crust. But I will never get my sugar cookie skills down if I keep doing that. So, for all you loyal readers, I am going to make a sugar cookie crust from scratch. Now, you can make the crust in any pan you have around, but I have found that a foil pizza pan is about the right size and easy to to get and you don't have to worry about taking it home because you can just throw it in the recycling (we are earth friendly here at Tort(e). Recycle, reuse, reduce people!). If you happen to own a tart pan, then by all means use that. Unfortunately my kitchen is too small to keep things like that
 |
| I would have a le creuset addiction if I had the funds for it. |
So let's get this tart rolling!
The first step is to make the sugar cookie crust.* This recipe is a fairly easy one, with a low sugar content. In my family we have several people who are watching their sugar intake, so this is a good recipe to go with. You can use any recipe you like (or even go with the aforementioned store bought sugar cookie dough).
Print sugar cookie dough recipe
Combine all the dry ingredients, minus the sugar on waxed paper. Make sure your waxed paper is cut large enough. I didn't do this the first time and ended up with flour everywhere. Oops.
Cream together the sugar and butter. Then add eggs and vanilla. You will have something that looks like this:
Then slowly add in the flour mixture. You will want to use a mixer if you have one because it gets kind of stiff after a while with all the flour. However, this is, of course, a good way to get an arms workout if you have been slacking on getting to the gym like I have been. The final dough will look like this:
Now the recipe says to put it in the fridge for an hour. You can do this if you want to roll out the dough to put it into the pan. I usually just press it into the pan, so I don't refrigerate the dough (unless its really warm in the kitchen and the butter is melting like no one's business. Then it gets a chill).
 |
| Fingers work well for pressing the dough into the pan. |
Bake 10 minutes or until the whole cookie looks golden on the edges. Its sometimes hard to tell when it is done because there is a risk of over cooking it. Keep an eye on it and wait until its golden on the edges and no longer looks wet in the middle. It might not be cooked all the way through, but as long as its not raw you are good to go.
 |
| perfectly golden and baked. |
Pull it out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.
Source: adapted from food.com, Good Housekeeping
Pastry cream is amazing stuff, just like pate a choux. Not only can you fill pate choux with it to make eclairs, but you can also use it in tarts, trifles, or eat it by the
Print French pastry cream recipe
The first step of silky yumminess is to boil part of the milk. In another bowl whisk the eggs and sugar and the rest of the milk. Then whisk in the cornstarch and flour. Make sure there are no lumps! No one likes lumpy pastry cream.
You will need to temper the egg mixture with the boiled milk. This means adding a little bit of the HOT milk to egg mixture to prevent the eggs from cooking and curdling. As I said before, no one likes lumpy pastry cream. Add 1/3 of the hot milk to the egg mixture slowly. Be sure to constantly whisk the mixture as you add the milk. Then add the remaining milk and whisk until smooth.
Put in saucepan and cook until it is nice and thick and starts to boil, whisking constantly. Then allow to cook for two more minutes.
Remove from heat and add vanilla. Press plastic wrap down on top of the pastry cream. This will prevent a skin from forming on the cream. (Again, no one likes lumpy pastry cream!) Refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.
Source: food.com
To assemble the tart:
Pour pastry cream over crust and spread to edges of crust. You can then spread whipped cream over the pastry cream if you wish.
 |
| just pour it on.... |
 |
| ... and spread it out |
 |
| do the same with the whipped cream |
Arrange fruit as you wish across the top of the tart. Fruit that works well includes: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, tangerines, peaches, plums, kiwi, and any other that you can slice pretty. Be sure to cover the pastry cream completely with the fruit.
Optional: Melt dark chocolate chips (you will need about 1/2 cup melted chocolate) and brush over sugar cookie crust with a pastry brush. Chill in the fridge for 5 minutes or until the chocolate is set. This is an especially delicious way to take it up a notch. This time around I skipped this step, but if you decide to do this, you won't be disappointed.
Optional: Melt a 1/2 cup of apple (or apricot) jelly in the microwave (high, 30 seconds should do it). Brush the melted jelly over the fruit arranged on the tart. Put in the fridge to chill. Jelly will reset and create a shiny glaze on the tart. I
* I apologize. I totally had a brain lapse and forgot to take pictures while making the pastry cream and the cookie dough. I only remembered to start doing it when I got to the baking/assembling phase. I promise to update this post with pictures next time I make this.
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