It had been a while since I’ve made a homemade tart and since I can still find strawberries and cherries at farmers’ market, I decided to make a summer fruit tart. It turned out so delicious and fresh, that I decided to share the tart recipe with you.

You will learn how to make the crust (which is very yummy) and the filling. You can of course buy the crust and spare yourself to turn the oven on on these hot days, but trust me when I tell you that it will all worth it. Bake your own tart crust.

Servings: 8-10 | Prep. Time: 20 mins | Waiting Time: 1.5h | Cook Time: 40 mins | Difficulty: Medium

 Ingredients:

 For the crust:

• 250 grams of whole purpose flour;
• 125 grams of super cold butter – cut into cubes;
• 40 ml of cold water (or milk);
• 1 egg yolk;
  a pinch of salt.

 For the filling:

• 500 ml of whole milk;
• 3 tbsp corn starch;
• 5 tbsp sugar;
• 1 tsp vanilla extract.

 For the topping:

• 100 grams of fresh strawberries;
• 100 grams of fresh cherries.

Method:

 The Tart Crust

1. Mix the cold butter with the flour. Mix them together until you get a sand consistency mixture. Make sure the butter is not melting.

2. Add the egg yolk and half of the cold water and mix well until you get to form a crumbly, non sticky dough. Add more water if you need to. 

3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap an put it in the fridge to cool down for about an hour. If you’re impatient you can also put it in the freezer for about 30 minutes or so, until it’s harden.

4. After the dough sat in the fridge, turn your oven to medium heat and roll out the dough until it will be about 0.5 cm thick.

5. Put it in your tart form carefully. Using a fork, pierce the dough carefully to prevent it from growing too much in the oven. 

6. Bake the crust for about 30 minutes, at medium heat, (with the beans on top) or until it is golden brown.

7. Take it out of the oven and let it cool down completely before you fill it in. The tart crust is very fragile and it will break if it is still warm.

  The Filling

1. Add the sugar, corn starch and vanilla extract to the milk and mix well until everything is dissolved.

2. Put the milk mixture on the stove and bring it to a simmer, mixing constantly with a whisk to prevent it from sticking.

3. When it starts boiling, turn off the heat. By now the mixture should be thick enough and should look like a pudding. Continue to mix  for a few minutes until it cools down a little.

4. Cover the filling with a plastic wrap right on top on it to prevent it from forming a skin. Let it cool down completely.

The Tart Crust

To make sure you don’t bring any heat to the dough, don’t use your hands to mix it! You hands are warm enough to melt the butter. Use instad tools like a butter knife, and a glass bowl. They will help keeping the mixture quite cold.

The sand-like consistency is key for a good tart crust. So is the ice cold water – it will keep the mixture cool.

Use just half of the water. Each brand of flour have different absorption levels, discover which one is best for the type of flour you’re using.

Quick tip!

When baking the crust, put a piece of parchment paper in the middle of the crust and add some beans on top. The weight of the beans will not allow the bottom of the crust to raise too much. Keep the beans in a paper bag for future crusts.

The Fruit Tart

Now that both the tart crust and the filling are done and cooled down, it’s time to put the fruit tart together! Slice the strawberries and cherries first.

Take the plastic wrap over the filling and give it a good stir to make it creamy again. Add the feeling to the crust and level it. Now all you have to do is add the fruits. You can totally use other fruits and you can create beautiful designs for your fruit tart.

Related:  Classic Homemade Vanilla Pudding

I recommend to let the fruit tart sit in the fridge for another 15-20 minutes before serving, but if you can’t resit, you can eat it right away.

I did not expect this fruit tart to turn out so delicious and refreshing! It’s a great treat during summer; it’s delicious, healthy and refreshing. I truly hope that you will try to recreate your own fruit tart!

Enjoy!