Can you think of a better way to kick off summer than with a fresh fruit tart? Berries are busting out everywhere at our Farmer’s market these days and other than gobbling them up by the pint, this may be my new favorite way to eat them. We made this tart in school but, of course it wasn’t gluten-free. There is going to be a lot of that going on in the next few weeks. We’re learning Pastry Arts and until we get to chocolate, it’s all about flour and dough. I’m cool with that. It’s what I signed up for and I’m really not even a little bit tempted to eat the desserts at the end of the night. Just inspired to come home and make some of them gluten and allergy-friendly, like this one!
Mind you, once you see how things like puff pastry dough are actually made, you may be a little less tempted to eat them. There it is below. Yes, that is actually 1 1/2 pounds of flour, mixed with 1/2 pound of butter and then stuffed with an additional 2 pounds of butter before it is rolled out a gazillion times. None for me thank you! I keep telling my classmates not to feel too bad because, well, it IS bathing suit season! Who needs to eat all of those desserts every night? Not me!
I used Cup 4 Cup flour for the tart dough and sure enough, it worked exactly as it was supposed to. I subbed it into the recipe with the exact amount of all-purpose flour we used in school. It was delicious and I even had several people taste it against the tart I made with AP Flour just to give me their perspective on the difference. They loved the gluten-free tart and so will you. I know Cup 4 Cup is expensive. I don’t use it for all of my recipes. I make my own flour blend or use King Arthur’s for a lot of them however, this is a great blend to have in your cupboard for a special dessert like this fresh fruit tart. It’ll definitely wow your friends and family! Enjoy!
- TART DOUGH
- 2 cups Cup 4 Cup gluten-free flour blend
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 stick butter, cut into pieces
- 2 extra large eggs, beaten
- PASTRY CREAM
- 1 pint milk
- 4 oz sugar
- 1 egg
- 4 egg yolks
- 2 oz cornstarch
- ½ stick butter
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 pint heavy cream
- TOPPINGS
- Assorted berries and fruit of your choice to cover the tart
- PASTRY DOUGH
- Combine dry ingredients(flour, sugar, baking powder and salt) in a stand mixture with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl and mix together on low speed or gently by hand just to incorporate all of the ingredients
- Add butter and mix on 1st or 2nd speed of mixer or by hand until the butter is completely incorporated and the dough resembles the texture of cornmeal
- Add beaten eggs in and mix until the dough starts to hold together and form a ball
- Shape dough into a large cylinder (about 3½") and cover with plastic wrap
- Place in refrigerator for about 1 hour to firm up
- Once firm, heat oven to 350 and cut the dough in half (if using a 7" pan) and roll it out with a rolling pin in a circular shape, flouring your surface, as needed to prevent it from sticking
- Press the dough into the bottom of the pan and up the sides
- Place in the oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes until golden-brown
- Remove and allow to cool at room temperature
- PASTRY CREAM
- Place milk and sugar in a sauce pot and heat until just boiling
- In the meantime, place the eggs in a bowl and whisk with cornstarch until fully incorporated and there are no lumps
- Stream about ⅓ of the heated milk into the bowl with the eggs and cornstarch slowly, whisking continuously
- Add the mixture back into the sauce pot with the milk. Turn the heat to medium and whisk continuously until the mixture thickens and bubbles
- Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract
- Pour the cream into a shallow pan and cover directly with plastic wrap touching the surface of the cream before placing in the refrigerator to cool for at least 1 hour.
- Once cool, use the whip attachment of the stand mixer or a whisk and beat the heavy cream until is just starts to form very soft peaks
- Fold the whipped heavy cream into the pastry cream
- TARTS
- Place enough pastry cream to cover the entire pastry shell but do not go over the edges
- Arrange the fruit in a decorative pattern
- Serve and enjoy immediately or you may brush a melted jelly or jam over the fruit to preserve it.
G’day! Beautiful tart, true!
It is only breakfast, but I could go for a slice of this now too!
Cheers! Joanne
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