The components of a French fruit tart 

A Classic French fruit tart features 4 main components: a sweet pastry crust (a pâte sucrée), pastry cream, fresh fruits and a glaze. 

The crust: « pâte sucrée ».

The ideal crust for this fruit tart is what we call a “pâte sucrée”. A pâte sucrée is a buttery, sweet, cookie-like pastry crust generally used in French baking for tarts featuring cream or custards. A “pâte sucrée” has a crisp, crumbly texture – as opposed to classic an American pie crust which is flakier, and as opposed to a “pâte sablée” which is sandier. 

This pâte sucrée recipe includes a small portion of almond flour and a good amount of butter and powdered sugar. The combination of butter and powdered sugar creates a melt-in-your-mouth texture, which balances perfectly with the smooth vanilla pastry cream and juicy, fresh fruits. 

Tips: 

• Because a pâte sucrée contains quite a lot of butter, the dough needs to be chilled twice – at least 2 hours before being rolled out, and at least 30 minutes once rolled out in the tart shell, before baking. Consider these chilling times when you plan on making this fruit tart. 
• You can prepare the dough the day before and keep it refrigerated for up to 24 hours, well-wrapped in plastic film. 
• The crust gets baked on its own (baked “à blanc”), before being filled with the pastry cream and topped with fruits. You can also bake it the day prior, to save time. Once baked, keep the crust unfilled in the fridge for up to 24 hours. 

The pastry cream: “crème pâtissière ».

This pastry cream is known as “crème pâtissière”. French crème pâtissière is a custard flavored with vanilla, that is thickened using eggs and egg yolks. It is thicker than English or American custard and tastes richer too. It is used as the base for countless French desserts, especially fresh fruit tarts.

Fresh fruits.

Fresh, seasonal fruits are really the stars of the show here. There are no specific rules about which fruits to choose. But being a classic Summer dessert, the tart often features summer berries (ie. strawberries) along with kiwis for a nice contrast of color. I often like to add a clementine for pop of orange, and garnish the center with smaller fruits such as cherries or blueberries. 

In general, any soft fresh fruits work here: sliced mango, sliced peaches, halved apricots, etc. Avoid crunchy fruits, such as apples or pears. 

Once the fruits are washed, hulled and sliced, I like to arrange them by groups on a large cutting board. This make it easier for assembling the tart later. Start by placing the strawberries on the outer circle, and work your way inward with the other fruits. 

The glaze: apricot jam.

Apricot jam is commonly used for glazing fruit tarts in France. The specific term for glazing a fruit tart is called ‘abricoter’. The apricot jam is slowly heated and passed through a fine mesh strainer to discard of any chunks. Apple jelly is another popular alternative to apricot jam – which doesn’t need to be strained. Although less traditional, other jams work perfectly too: strawberry jam, raspberry jam, peach jam, etc. 

How long can you keep this tart? 

Once assembled this tart can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Crème pâtissière doesn’t freeze well, so I don’t recommend freezing this tart. 

Cooking notes:

• The pâte sucrée (baked “à blanc”) and the crème pâtissière can be made ahead and stored in the fridge until ready to assemble. I think this makes it a great dessert to be served for hosting, if you need to manage your time wisely in the kitchen.
• Although you can use a store-bought pie crust for convenience, I think making your own pâte sucrée from scratch will go a long way. Don’t skip the chilling time in the fridge and remember to work quickly – avoid the crust from getting to warm or it will become sticky. 
• This crust recipe will give you enough for a 9-inch pie crust. I recommend you use a tart pan with a removable bottom, which will support the crust when lifting your tart.

Classic French Fruit Tart (Tarte aux fruits frais)

Print Recipe

Serves: 8 Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 30 minutes 30 minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 2 voted )

Ingredients

For the « pate sucrée » crust :
½ cup (125g) unsalted butter, cubed and at room temperature.
¾ cup (95g) powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup + 1 ½ tbsp (40g) almond flour (ground almond)
1 large egg
1 ¾ cup + 1 tbsp (233g) all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt

For the crème pâtissière:
1 cup (250ml) milk (2% or whole)
½ tsp vanilla extract (or seeds from ½ vanilla bean)
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
3 tbsp (38g) sugar
2 tbsp (17g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ tbsp (11g) cornstarch

For the fruits :
About 300g strawberries, washed, hulled and sliced in half
3 kiwis, peeled and sliced in thin slices
1 clementine, peeled and divided
7-8 cherries, halved and pitted

For the glaze :
¼ cup apricot jam or apple jelly, warmed

Instructions

Step 1 - Make the « pâte sucrée » crust. In a large mixing bowl, combine the butter and powdered sugar until creamy and smooth. Add the vanilla extract, almond flour and egg, and mix until homogeneous. Add the all-purpose flour and salt, and mix until just incorporated and the dough comes together into a ball. Wrap in a plastic film and place in the fridge for 2 hours, minimum.

Pre-heat your oven to 350°F (180°C).

Step 2 - Take the pâte sucrée out of the fridge, place it between two large sheets of parchment paper and roll it out to a 12-inch circle. Unpeel the top sheet of parchment paper, transfer the crust to a 9-inch tart pan (trim the sides if needed) and poke the bottom of the crust all over with a fork. Chill it again for 30 minutes. Line the top of the crust with foil or parchment paper and place pie weights or dried beans on top, to keep the pie crust from puffing when baking.

Bake the pâte sucrée for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the parchment paper filled with weights and bake for 10 more minutes, until the edges of the crust are golden.

Set the tart shell aside to cool (still in the pan).  

Step 3 - Make the crème pâtissière. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm up the milk and vanilla. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, egg yolk and sugar until lighter in color and fluffy. Whisk in the flour and cornstarch. When the milk is just simmering, slowly pour it into the egg mixture, and whisk continuously until just incorporated.

Transfer back into the saucepan, whisk occasionally and remove from the heat as soon as it begins to thicken and bubble. Pour into a clean bowl, and cover the crème with plastic wrap; the wrap should touch the whole surface of the crème to prevent a skin from forming. Set aside to cool completely. 

Step 4 - Assemble the tart. Place the completely cooled crust onto a serving plate. Spread the crème pâtissière over the bottom of the crust. Start by placing the strawberry halves (bottom side down) on top of the crème, on the outer circle of the tart. Keep three or four strawberry halves to garnish the center of the tart. Continue by placing kiwi slices, clementine quarters and cherries halves, in a circular pattern and overlapping until full. 

Step 5 -  Glaze. Warm up the apricot jam in a microwave for 15 seconds and pass it through a fine mesh strainer if needed (to discard of fruit chunks). Gently brush the jam over the fruits. Chill the tart for at least one hour before serving, for the glaze to cool and set. 

The post Classic French Fruit Tart (Tarte aux fruits frais) appeared first on Pardon Your French.

Cooking notes:

• The idea here is to play with seasonal Winter fruits. Pears, apples, clementines, kiwis and pomegranate are staples. But you can also substitute clementines with other citrus fruits (oranges, blood oranges, mandarines) or add other Winter fruits, such as pineapple, banana, mango or persimmon. Play around with different colors and textures.
• For pears, choose crisp varieties such as Bosc or Bartlett.
• For apples, choose a crunchy variety that won’t brown too quickly when sliced. Honey crisp, Fuji or pink lady are good choices.
• Start by cutting the apples and pears. As soon as they are cut, toss them with the juice of ½ a lemon so they don’t brown.

I hope you’ll love this Winter Fruit Salad recipe as much as I do! If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment. 

• Classic French Lemon Tart 
• Honey Lemon Marmalade
• Lemon Poppy Seed Yogurt Loaf
• Pêches Melba
• Peach & Blueberry Galette
• Classic French Tarte aux Fraises

Winter Fruit Salad

Print Recipe

Serves: 4-6 Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 4 voted )

Ingredients

2 firm pears, cored and cubed
2 crisp apples, cored and cubed
4 Clementines, peeled and segmented
2 kiwis, peeled and cubed
1 pomegranate, seeded
1 lemon, juiced
Optional: 1 to 2 tbsp honey

Instructions

Make sure you read the cooking notes before you start.

Step 1 - In a large bowl, combine the cubed pears and apples, and toss immediately with ½ of the lemon juice (so they don’t brown). Add the clementine segments, kiwi and half of the pomegranate seeds. Add the rest of the lemon juice and (optionally) the honey. Toss delicately to combine.

Step 2 - Serve in individual glasses, cups or bowls, and top each serving with a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds.

Notes...

This Winter Fruit Salad can be prepared up to 5 hours before serving. The lemon juice prevents the fruits from browning. After that, the fruits tend to soften and the salad won't really look fresh anymore.

Did you make this recipe?

I’d love to know how it turned out! Please let me know by leaving a comment below, rate the recipe and/or share a photo on Instagram: tag @pardonyourfrench  and hashtag it #pardonyourfrench. This post may contain affiliate links. Please see my Privacy Policy & Disclosure page for more details.

The post Winter Fruit Salad appeared first on Pardon Your French.

The perfect marriage of Citrus and Fennel, inspired by two Classic-French Recipes.

The inspiration from this Clementine Roast Chicken dish came at the cross-point between two Classic-French recipes. First, Duck a l’Orange – a much-celebrated recipe that features a golden, sticky-sweet, roasted duck in a rich orange sauce. And then, the Fennel Orange salad – a Winter favorite of mine that is bright, bittery and simple.

I wanted to recreate all the cozy yet bright feelings of these two recipes, but in one simple dish.

The use of seasonal clementines and lemons bring tons of pep and fragrant juices, the fennel brings bitterness, the golden-skinned roast chicken leg quarters brings that staple coziness – all binded together with sticky sweet honey, a touch of white wine and aromatics .

It’s bright, comforting, and healthy-ish too!

I love that this Clementine Roast Chicken recipe cooks in the oven and requires only one sheet pan – no fuss, no extra steps. Yet it holds complex flavors and is a great way to use seasonal ingredients in the Winter. Read my cooking notes below, and you’ll be all set for success.

Cooking notes:

• Leaving the skin on the chicken is essential to this recipe as it will contribute greatly to building flavors in this dish. You can choose to remove the skin later on – in your plate, once the dish is served.
• Instead of chicken quarter legs, you can substitute withskin-on chicken legs or chicken thighs. In this case, the cooking time may need to be slightly shorter (about 45 minutes).
• I highly recommend opting for organic citrus fruits, since we’re using sliced lemons and clementines with the skin on.
• Choose a big chubby fennel bulb that is slightly tender to touch, with white ends and bright green tiny fronds.
• This recipe requires marinating the chicken for at least 2 hours, so plan your schedule accordingly.
• After developing this recipe and thoroughly enjoying it, I did some research on Clementine-themed chicken recipes on the net and stumbled onto this Ottolenghi recipe, which happen to be similar to this one (great minds think alike!); so I thought it would be worth mentioning it. A few differences include Ottolenghi using grainy mustard and Arak – a Levantine anise spirit – instead of white wine, which I am sure lends incredible flavors as well. As a substitute to white wine or Arak, you could also opt for a French Pastis, such as Pernod.

This recipes fits a half-sheet pan, which measures 18-by-13 inches. This is likely the sheet pan you use everyday, to make cookies or other sheet-pan dinners. 

I hope you’ll love Clementine Roast Chicken with Fennel and Honey as much as I do! This is a simple yet impressive recipe that is perfect for Winter and that will feed 4 people. Serve it with white rice, couscous or other types of grains (quinoa, barley, etc.) or even orzo pasta.

You may also like:

• Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breasts in Grape Sauce 
• Simple Chicken Marengo with Mushrooms
• Cod Provençal with Tomatoes, Capers and Olives
• Slow-Cooker Beef Bourguignon

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @pardonyourfrench on Instagram and hashtag it #pardonyourfrench

Clementine Roast Chicken with Fennel and Honey

Print Recipe

Serves: 4 people Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cooking Time: 50 Minutes 50 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 4.5/5

( 15 voted )

Ingredients

4 Chicken quarter legs (300-350g each)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 fennel
1/2 cup (118ml) dry cooking white wine
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 tbsp (30ml) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 lemon : ½ lemon juiced  + ½ lemon unpeeled, cut in ½-inch (1.25cm) slices
6 clementines: 2 clementines, juiced + 4 unpeeled clementines, cut in ½-inch slices
3 tbsp (60ml) honey
1 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1 tbsp butter (salted or unsalted)
Salt, black pepper – for seasoning, to taste

Instructions

Step 1 - At least two hours before or the night before, season the chicken pieces with salt and black pepper, and place them in a large ziplog bag or shallow bowl.

Wash the fennel and trim off the tiny green fronds – keep aside for decorating later. Cut the fennel in half lengthwise and then each half into quarters, so you get 8 wedges. Add these wedges to the chicken pieces.

Add the white wine, crushed garlic cloves, EVOO, the juice of ½ a lemon and slices from ½ a lemon, the juices from 2 clementines and slices from 4 clementines, 2 tablespoons (40ml) of honey and fennel seeds. Seal the ziplog bag and massage for a few seconds to make sure all ingredients are well mixed together and the chicken is well-coated with the marinade. If using a bowl, stir well and cover with a plastic film. Refrigerate for 2 hours or as long as overnight.

Step 2 – Two hours later (or the next day), pre-heat your oven at 350F (180C) (convection ON), with a rack in the middle.

Take the marinated chicken out of the fridge and arrange all the ingredients on a large baking tray, placing a few citrus slices on top of chicken pieces and pouring all the juices over top.

Place dollops of butter (1/4 tbsp) on top of the chicken pieces and season to taste with salt and pepper. Finally, drizzle the whole tray with 1 tbsp (20ml) of honey.

Step 3 - Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until the chicken is cooked and the skin looks golden. Once or twice during cooking, open the oven quickly, dip a cooking brush in the juices at the bottom of the pan and brush the chicken pieces to keep moist.

Serve immediately on a bed of white rice. Arrange fennel wedges and citrus slices around each chicken pieces and decorate with fresh fennel fronds.

Did you make this recipe?

I’d love to know how it turned out! Please let me know by leaving a comment below, rate the recipe and/or share a photo on Instagram: tag @pardonyourfrench  and hashtag it #pardonyourfrench.  Bon Appetit! 

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