Fresh Fruit Tart
Servings: 8 slices
Time: 90 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
December has already started and it is the season for fresh strawberries. This weekend, I decided to make Fresh Fruit Tart. I considered using fresh strawberries, mulberries, kiwi and dragon fruit for the topping.
Ingredients
For Pastry Crust
– Maida (all purpose flour) – 200 gm
– Unsalted Butter – 150 gm
– White sugar – 50 gm
– Salt – 1/8 tsp
– Egg – 1
– Cold water – 2 tbsp
For Pastry Cream
– Milk – 300 ml
– Egg yolks – 3 nos
– Maida – 20 gm
– Corn flour – 20 gm
– Vanilla extract – 1 tsp
For Topping
– Strawberries – 15 nos
– Kiwi – 2 nos
– Dragon Fruit – 1 no
For Glaze
– Corn flour – 1 tbsp
– White sugar – 50 gm
– Water – 1 cup
Directions
For Pastry Crust
In the food processor bowl, take maida. Add sugar and salt
Cut cold butter in 1/2 inch cubes and add to maida
Lightly beat the egg and add to maida
Turn on the food processor and pulse it until all the ingredients just come together and forms the texture of small granules. If necessary, add 1 tbsp of cold water (if mixture is not coming together)
Take out the mixture and place on the clean working platform. Bring all the ingredients together to form a ball. Do not over work the batter otherwise pastry crust will not be light after baking.
Flatten the ball in the form of the thick disc, cover it with cling wrap and keep in the refrigerator for 30 minutes
Take 8-9 inch tart mould with loose bottom. Grease it with butter
Remove the pastry disc from the refrigerator and roll it on the clean working platform using rolling pin. The size of the rolled pastry should be at least 3-4 inches more that the diameter of the tart mould (Instead of flattening using rolling pin, I placed the pastry ball in the mould and flattened it evenly using fingers and palm while raising the pastry over the edges of the mould.)
Transfer the rolled pastry in the mould, press lightly with fingers along the inside edge of the mould and cut excess of pastry hanging over the mould top using knife.
Keep the pastry along with mould in the freezer for 15-20 minutes
Pre-heat the oven at 200 degrees centigrade
Take out the pastry and mould from the freezer, prick the bottom of the pastry.
Bake the pastry in the oven for 5 minutes at 200 degrees centigrade
Reduce the temperature to 180 degrees and back until crust turns light brown (around 15-17 minutes)
Turn the oven off, take out the baked pastry and allow it to completely cool
While crust is warm, apply either apricot glaze or lightly beaten egg whites on the inside surface of the crust. This prevents the crust becoming soggy once pastry cream is poured inside the crust
Once cooled, remove the bottom of the mould
While pastry crust is getting cooled, prepare pastry cream
For Pastry Cream
Separate egg whites and yolks
In a bowl, take 3 egg yolks and mix well with sugar
Sift maida and corn flour in the egg yolks and mix well until smooth paste is formed
In the sauce pan, bring the milk to just boil (until milk starts foaming up)
Remove the sauce pan from heat and pour small quantity in the egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly. This is called tempering of the egg yolk mixture
Slowly add the remaining milk in the egg yolk mixture while continuously whisking
Pour back the above mixture in the sauce pan and keep it on the gas stove on medium heat.
Whisk continuously (this will avoid curdling of the egg yolk mixture) until the mixture thickens with the custard like smooth consistency (around 1 minute or so). Whisking continuously will also help avoid any lumps being formed
Remove it from the heat and allow it cool completely. Cover the surface of the pastry cream with cling wrap to avoid formation of the skin
Once cooled, add vanilla extract and mix well.
For Glaze
In a small pan, take sugar, corn flour and water
Bring the mixture to boil
Remove it from the heat and allow to cool completely. The mixture will be slightly thickened
Assembling the tart
In the cooled pastry crust, spread the pastry cream evenly
Slice the strawberries, kiwis and dragon fruits
Arrange the fruit slices on top of pastry cream in concentric circles or any other decorative form
Using pastry brush, apply cooled glaze on the surface of the fruits. This glaze bring shine to the surface of the fruits as well as prevents the fruits from turning stale
Store the tart in the refrigerator until served.
We can use any other fruits of your choice as well.
