Fresh Fruit Tart

Week 27

As you have probably guessed there was no baking last week. I had planned to bake a festive desert for Independence Day but the choice amongst my guests was voted out by homemade ice cream. Last week was a break for all of us. Now we're back at it and this week's host was Amanda she choose Fresh Fruit Tart. Recipe on page 403 of our book.

 

I am really glad she picked this recipe for two reasons. First: I have been eying the recipe to use for my baking week but was unsure about the filling. Second: What a perfect desert for the HOT HOT summer.

 

This recipe could of been festive enough for Independence Day.

Not only does it look refreshing but beautiful to! I love love berries, especially strawberries and raspberries. So I choose the mixed berry tart variation. Well. . . I didn't really read that variation it just so happened that I used all berries and after glanced at the tart variations and saw that there was a berry variation. The Kiwis on the original version look beautiful but I am allergic to them.

Making the custard filling was easy but I was nervous it was going to be way to rich for my taste. It was made out of half and half and some sugar. I remained optimistic because the picture looked so good.

The recipe for the tart crust wanted us to make the dough in a food processor. Usually when a recipe says this I use my blender. This time I decided to sift the ingredients when it said pulse and use my dough hook on my standing mixer when it wanted me to combine the ingredients until it turned to dough. In the end it turned out just as good.

When it came time to roll out the dough it kept sticking to the counter. I tried to pick it up with the rolling pin and my fingers but it wasn't moving, just crumbling. (see above picture) Errr. It took a lot more flour and a couple more times of rolling out the dough before it was finally placed into my pie plate. Yes, "pie plate" I didn't even go look for a tart pan. A pie plate was just as easy and looked just as good other then it looked like a pie instead of a tart. Oh well.

I was really impressed with how the tart turned out. The custard filling which I was worried about being to rich was just perfect and not to heavy. The fruit, of course, was yummy. As you can see in the pictures above it didn't serve well. The tart fell apart when I served it. I think next time I will freeze the custard in the crust for a hour or so then right before it's served put the fruit on top. It would be even better if the custard was more firm and cold. Thanks Amanda for picking a great summer treat!

A Tip & A Question:

1. Test your custard before assembling tart to make sure you have the right firmness.
2. What does pulsing the ingredients do verses mixing?

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