French Fruit Tart Recipe

This classic French Fruit Tart is a simple, yet elegant dessert sure to impress your family and friends.There is something strikingly beautiful about a colorful fruit tart. This classic French dessert is sold in every pastry shop (or patisserie) in France as well as in many American bakeries.

Although the thought of making this fruit tart recipe may be intimidating, fruit tarts are quite simple and easy to make. As an added bonus, you can save time by making the tart shell and creamy custard ahead of time.

A vibrant topping of berries and currants contrasts with the vanilla and sour-cream custard filling in this gorgeous French tart. There's a secret ingredient: White chocolate, it's melted and brushed onto the baked crust before the tart is filled with custard.

Ingredients

Crust

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

2 tablespoons sugar 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

2 cold large egg yolks

2 to 3 tablespoons ice-cold water

2 1/2 ounces white chocolate, melted

Custard

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 3/4 cups whole milk

4 large egg yolks

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon pure vanilla paste or extract

1 cup sour cream (8 ounces)

Topping

1/3 cup apricot jam

3 cups mixed berries, such as raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, and currants

Preparation :

Crust: Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter; pulse until pea-size lumps remain. Stir together yolks and 2 tablespoons ice-cold water; drizzle over flour mixture, pulsing just until dough holds together when pressed between your fingers. (If still too dry and crumbly, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time.) Form into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic; chill until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to an approximately 12-inch round. Transfer to a 9-inch round fluted tart pan, gently pressing dough into edges. Run a rolling pin over top of the pan to remove excess dough. Line dough with parchment and fill with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice.

Bake until the crust is dry, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove weights and parchment; return to the oven and bake until golden and crisp, about 15 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Brush bottom and sides evenly with chocolate; refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes.

Custard: Meanwhile, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Add milk and egg yolks; whisk until smooth. Add butter; cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil. Continue to cook, whisking, until the mixture has the texture of thick pudding, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in vanilla. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl; cover surface with plastic wrap. Let cool completely. Whisk in sour cream until combined; transfer to crust and refrigerate until custard is set, at least 1 hour or, loosely covered, up to 1 day.

Topping: In a small saucepan or a microwave, warm apricot jam with 2 teaspoons of water just until melted (if jam is chunky, strain through a sieve). Drizzle over berries; gently stir to evenly coat. Spoon mixture over custard. The dessert is ready to be served.