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. 

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