- 1 sweet shortcrust pastry dough
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 3 Tablespoons sugar
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1 ½ Tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 cups fresh fruit (options are endless; I use bananas, clementines, raspberries, strawberries, kiwi, blueberries) ¼ cup apricot preserves, warmed and strained
After making the shortcrust pastry, blind bake it at 350° for 15 minutes. Remove the blind baking pie weights and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Be sure the crust has completely cooled before creating the tart.
For the pastry cream, use a large mixing bowl to whisk the egg, egg yolk, and sugar together until it is frothy and light in color. Add the flour and cornstarch then continue whisking until the mixture is smooth. Separately, bring the whole milk and vanilla to a medium heat on your stove, stirring occasionally. When the first bubbles appear, remove it from the heat and add the milk/vanilla mixture to the egg slowly, one ladleful at a time. Be sure the milk is fully incorporated into the egg mixture before adding the next ladleful.
Once the milk and egg mixtures are fully combined, transfer it all back to the saucepan and whisk it periodically over a medium-low heat. As soon as the mixture has thickened, remove it from the heat and whisk it vigorously until it is silky smooth. Put the pastry cream into a clean bowl and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap down so that it clings to the surface of the pastry cream (this keeps a “skin” from forming). Set the pastry cream aside and let it completely cool down.
When everything has cooled, set the tart shell onto a serving platter and fill it with the pastry cream, taking care to spread the cream all the way to the edges. Prepare the fruit as needed, slicing and arranging in a circular pattern working from the outside towards the center of the tart shell. After warming the apricot preserves, stir them and press the preserves through a mesh strainer to remove any chunks, then brush the glaze onto the fruit to give it a beautiful shiny look.
Chill the finished tart for at least one hour in the refrigerator before serving.
Hillary Danaher 