It was Sarah’s birthday last week and as usual, she requested a fruit tart instead of a cake. In Marin, you can find strawberries pretty much year-round. Most come from Mexico, but already this week local strawberries are starting to show up in the market, and surprisingly, they are delicious – so sweet! I wish I had bought more. It seems like every time I make a tart I don’t have enough fruit to cover all the custard, but Sarah didn’t seem to mind.

Happy kid, happy mom, right?

Fruit Tart Recipe

Tart dough recipe slightly adapted from my favorite book: Tartine Bakery Cookbook
Pastry cream filling
Fruit(s) of choice
Jam/jelly for glazing the fruit

For the Tart Shell

• 1 cup + 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 large eggs 
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Make sure the eggs and butter are at room temperature.

Combine the butter, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the paddle attachment and mix until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, until everything looks smooth. 

Add the flour all at once to the butter mixture. Blend at slow speed until just combined. (Do not overmix!)

On a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into four equal parts and roll out into 1/2-inch thick disks. Wrap each disk with plastic wrap and place them in the refrigerator to chill for about 2 hours or overnight.

When you are ready to make the tart, roll out the dough into a circle about 1/8 inch thick and about 1 inch larger than the tart pan you plan on using. You can make mini tarts or one big one. Place the dough into your pan and prick the bottom before inserting it into a 325 F oven. A 9-inch tart should be ready in about 8-10 minutes and should be a light golden color. Smaller tarts should take about 5-7 minutes.

Let the tart shell cool completely before filling it.

For the pastry cream 
(makes about 1 2/3 cups)

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, mix sugar, salt, and cornstarch. Stir in milk.

Cook, stirring constantly, on medium heat until mixture thickens and begins to boil; boil one minute and remove from heat.

Temper the egg yolks by adding a little of the hot milk mixture to them while whisking. Return to pan.

Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture is thick and bubbly. Remove from the heat.

Stir in vanilla extract. (If you love almond extract you can use 1/2 tsp. instead.) Pour into a medium bowl through a sieve to remove any lumps.

Let cool at room temperature for about 30 min. Cover with plastic wrap placed directly on the surface of the cream. 

Store the cream in the refrigerator until it’s time to assemble the tart.

To serve
Wash and slice 2 cups of strawberries or a mix of your favorite fruit. Some ideas: kiwi, pineapple, raspberries, blueberries, or honeydew melon.

Arrange the fruit on top of the cream and brush each berry with a little jam/jelly. Heat jam/jelly up in the stovetop/microwave to make it easier to apply. (I used apricot jam).

Enjoy!