We’ve got fresh fruit tart on the dessert menu! The wonderful thing about this classic dessert is that there’s minimal bake time. The crust only bakes for about 15 minutes, then you let it cool and fill it with the good stuff. And it’s the kind of dessert that looks like you poured your heart and soul into it, when in reality you made the pastry crust yesterday (it’s make ahead!) and spent most of the time sampling all the fruit you were cutting. I include a lot of step-by-step pictures today. While this recipe is very manageable, I want you to have full confidence before beginning. Let’s dive into this beauty!
3 Parts to Fresh Fruit Tart
Fresh Fruit Tart Crust
The base of our tart is a sweetened pastry crust. It’s kind of like pie dough, kind of like a cookie—but very much its own unique masterpiece. Crust like this lends the perfect sweet crunch under the blanket of vanilla cream and mountain of fresh fruit. It can be made ahead and refrigerated, or stick it in the freezer for later. The crust in photos:
Fruit Tart Filling
Many fruit tarts call for a detailed pastry cream or custard—while undeniably delicious, we’re keeping it simple. Just 4 ingredients needed for our zero effort cream filling: mascarpone, heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla. It tastes like cheesecake! For flavor, use a mix of vanilla bean and pure vanilla extract. Vanilla pairs wonderfully with subtly sweet and buttery mascarpone—the key flavor in tiramisu so YOU KNOW it’s going to be good in this tart. To make it extra dreamy, try adding a little lemon juice and zest to the cream filling. In lieu of the mascarpone filling, my pastry cream is another fantastic option for filling this tart.
Fresh Fruit Topping
Here’s where you have full creative control. When selecting fruit for a fruit tart, I look for variation in color, texture, and size—as well as what flavors pair nicely together. Decorate the tart with circles or rows of fruit, or pile it all randomly on top. Either way it will taste good! For the sparkly shimmer, brush some jam on top. Choose a light color variety like orange or apricot, water it down, and brush it on top of the fruit. While totally optional, sparkles are always a good idea. A refreshing and summery fruit tart would be wonderful for summer holiday weekends. See more Memorial Day Weekend recipes and 4th of July desserts.
More Baking Recipes Using Fresh Fruit
Fruit Pizza Mini Fruit Galettes No-Bake Greek Yogurt Fruit Tart Berry Cobbler Mixed Berry Slab Pie Lemon Strawberry Crumb Bars
Because I think you’ll love the cuteness… mini fruit tarts! You can use this exact recipe, just fit and blind bake the crust in mini tart pans. This crust fits nicely into about six 4-inch mini tart pans (I own these mini 4-inch tart pans). You can use larger tart pans for less tarts or smaller tart pans for more tarts. Blind bake the mini crusts until lightly browned on the sides. The 4-inch size took about 12 minutes in the oven. Wait for them to cool, then fill and decorate. 🙂
