Fresh fruit tart is a perfect summer dessert. This tart is filled with Crème Mousseline, the classic pastry cream that is enriched with butter and then topped with fresh summer fruits. Here we are using strawberries, blueberries, white and yellow peaches. 

We highly recommend using tart fruits like raspberries, blackberries, kiwis, cherries, or even grapes. Tart fruits pair well and help cut down the richness of pastry cream. It is best not to use apples, pears, and bananas for this tart as they will oxidize and turn brown. Also, avoid using fruits with high moisture content like pineapple and melon.

Tart Crust

Let’s start by preparing buttery, lightly sweet, crispy yet tender tart crust. This is a French-style tart crust that is flaky but not so crumbly, and easy to eat with a fork, unlike short-crust pastry. 

This tart crust comes together easily and with very few ingredients like flour, almond flour, powder sugar, egg, and most importantly butter – you can’t call it a French recipe if it doesn’t have butter in it.

Here we are using a food processor to make the dough because it will come together quickly without overworking it. Put the almond flour, powdered sugar, flour, and salt into the food processor and give it a couple of pulses until everything is well combined. Add soften cubed butter and give a few pulses until it resembles breadcrumbs and a bit like wet sand. 

Now, while keeping your food processor on, add the egg and continue processing. Stop the food processor as soon as it forms a dough ball. Now turn the dough out onto a cling wrap and use your hands to bring it together. You don’t need to knead it, just bring it together into a smooth ball, wrap it and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

As we mentioned earlier that this tart crust doesn’t get soggy and crumbly even if you use it to bake with fillings inside. That’s why we always double the recipe, seal it very well and keep it in the freezer. So, whenever we feel like making a tart, pull out that frozen dough and it is ready to use once it’s thawed.

Crème Mousseline

Crème Mousseline is a classic French pastry cream. Basically, it’s a regular pastry cream (Crème Pâtissière) that is enriched by emulsifying butter into it for some extra indulgence. You can also use this cream as a buttercream for frosting cakes or muffins. 

First of all, start by whisking the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together until the yolks are light and frothy. If the mixture is thick add a couple of teaspoons of milk. Split half of the vanilla bean pod lengthwise and add it to the rest of the milk in a saucepan. Heat the milk until just below boiling and remove from the heat. Temper the egg mixture by pouring 1/3 of the milk into the egg yolks and cornstarch while whisking constantly. Then whisk the remaining milk into the mixture. Return the mixture to the saucepan and heat on medium heat while whisking continuously. Heat the mixture until it thickens and begins to steam for about 5 minutes. Transfer the cream to a bowl, discard the vanilla bean pod, place the cling film touching the surface of the cream so that it won’t develop skin as it cools down. 

Allow the pastry cream to fully cool to room temperature. Now, add your cooled pastry cream to the stand mixer and start adding chunks of butter at a time, on a medium to high speed to emulsify the softened butter into the cream. Transfer the cream to an airtight container and refrigerate. 

Baking and Assembling

Let’s preheat the oven to 350°F. While the oven is getting ready, roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the dough about 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch of thickness. Carefully roll the dough on the rolling pin, then unroll it over the tart pan. Here we are using a 14-inch rectangle tart pan but you can also use your regular round tart pan. Press the dough firmly into the bottom of the pan and onto the sides. Trim any excess dough and cover it with parchment paper, fill it with pie weights, and bake for about 12 to 14 minutes. Remove the parchment paper with pie weights and bake the crust for another 12 to 15 minutes. Place it on a cooling rack and let it cool completely. 

Fill the cooled tart crust with prepared crème mousseline and spread it evenly into the tart shell using an offset spatula or silicone spatula. Arrange the fruits in a decorative pattern over the pastry cream. Heat the apricot jam in a microwave with a teaspoon of water and using a pastry brush apply the glaze on fruits. This glaze gives the fruit tart shine and also it locks in the freshness of your fruits.

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