Fresh French Fruit Tart

One of my favorite desserts is the French Fruit Tart. Whenever I go to Central Market here in Houston, I always buy one as a small treat for us. I was browsing recipes online a few days ago to see if I can make one at home and came across the recipe from Pierre Herme's, who is a world renowned French Pastry Chef. I knew I had to try his recipe and bought the ingredients to make the tart at home. The only change made was using the America's Test Kitchen filling recipe but I found on their website. The tart was absolutely amazing and it'll be our go to tart recipe. Dr. Sweetpea kept raving about how it tasted just like the tarts we buy from Central Market.

Pierre Herme's French Fresh Fruit Tart

(Source: Whipped The Blog)

Pierre Herme’s Vanilla Pastry Cream

Fills one 9 or 10 inch tart

2 cups whole milk

1 most, plump vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped

6 large eggs yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted

3 1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

In a small saucepan, bring milk and vanilla bean (pulp and pod) to a boil over medium heat. Cover the pan and turn off heat and let rest to infuse vanilla for 10 minutes.

Fill a large bowl with ice cubes and water. Set aside smaller bowl that can hold the finished cream and be placed in the ice bath. Set aside fine mesh strainer with it.

Whisk the yolks, sugar and cornstarch together in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan. Remove vanilla bean pod from hot milk. Slowly drizzle some milk into yolks, whisking continuously. Still whisking, pour in all the liquid in a steady stream. Place the pan over medium heat and whisking vigorously without stopping, bring mixture to a boil. Keep at boil while whisking for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and scrape pastry cream into the small bowl in put it in the ice bath.

Stir the pastry cream continuously as it cools to keep it smooth. When it is about 140 degrees (very warm to the touch but not extremely hot) stir in butter in 3 or 4 additions. Return to ice bath and leave until cooled. Use immediately or cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 2 days.

America's Test Kitchen Pastry Cream (this is the filling that I used but will try Pierre Herme's recipe next time) 

2              cups half-and-half

1/2           cup granulated sugar

pinch table salt

5              large egg yolks

3              tablespoons cornstarch

4              tablespoons unsalted butter (cold), cut into 4 pieces

1 1/2        teaspoons vanilla extract

Heat half-and-half, 6 tablespoons sugar, and salt in medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat until simmering, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks in medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Whisk in remaining 2 tablespoons sugar and whisk until sugar has begun to dissolve and mixture is creamy, about 15 seconds. Whisk in cornstarch until combined and mixture is pale yellow and thick, about 30 seconds. When half-and-half mixture reaches full simmer, gradually whisk simmering half-and-half into yolk mixture to temper. Return mixture to saucepan, scraping bowl with rubber spatula; return to simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until 3 or 4 bubbles burst on surface and mixture is thickened and glossy, about 30 seconds. Off heat, whisk in butter and vanilla. Transfer mixture to medium bowl, press plastic wrap directly on surface, and refrigerate until cold and set, at least 3 hours or up to 48 hours.

Pierre Herme’s Sweet Tart Dough

Makes 3 tarts

2 1/2 sticks (285g) unsalted butter (at room temperature)

1 1/2 cups (150g) confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup lightly packed (100g / 3 ¼ oz) finely ground almond powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, lightly beaten, at room temperature

3 1/2 cups (490g / 17¼ oz) all-purpose flour, sifted

Place the butter in the bowl of a mixer with paddle attachment and beat until creamy, scraping down the edges as needed. Add the sugar almond powder, salt, vanilla and eggs and still working on low speed, beat to blend the ingredients, scraping sides as needed. (dough may look curdled, that is okay)

With the machine on low, add the flour in three parts and mix until the dough mixture starts to get together. Do not over mix – stop when the dough comes together in a soft ball, just a matter of seconds.

Remove the sweet pastry dough and divide into thirds, shape each third into a ball and flatten it slightly and then wrap in plastic wrap. If using the dough immediately, let it settle in the fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight. To freeze, put the wrapped disks in freezer bag and use within a month. (When starting from the frozen pastry disks, thaw about 45 minutes before the dough is ready for rolling out.)

To roll and bake the tart, butter a 9 or 10 inch tart pan. Lightly flour a surface and a rolling pin, then roll out the pastry disk, working it in each direction to ease the shape into a circular shape between 1/16 and 1/8 inch thick. Carefully lay the rolled dough over the tart dish. With your fingers, gently ease the dough into the corners and up the sides. If the shell cracks, use scraps to patch. Use the rolling pin or knife to cut off excess edges. Prick the surface all over with a fork. Line the shell with parchment or foil and fill with dried beans or rice. Bake the crust at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes until it is lightly colored. Remove the parchment or foil and beans and bake an additional 2-3 minutes to firm up the bottom. (I baked our crust for about 10 more minutes). Cook tart on a rack.

TO ASSEMBLE THE TART

Pour the pastry cream into the cooked tart shell. Top with sliced fruit of your choice. If you want to glaze the fruit, combine 1/2 c. fruit juice (pineapple, peach, etc.), 1/4 c. sugar and 2 tbsp. cornstarch in saucepan, stirring until smooth. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. It should be clear. Remove from heat; cool until lukewarm. Spoon over fresh fruit on top of the tart. (*I used water instead of fruit juice to make the glaze)