One of our neighbors recently celebrated their anniversary, as a gift I made them a large strawberry tart. Actually, I made two tarts, one for them and one for us. Strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries are in season making it an ideal time to feature them on a tart. The great thing about a fruit tart is you can use whatever fruit you have access to.

There are three main components to this tart. There is the shell, the pastry cream (filling), and the glaze/fruit (topping). If you have a recipe for one or more of these that you prefer don’t be afraid to substitute it. You could easily assemble this tart by purchasing all three parts pre-made, however, I don’t believe it would be nearly as good. Tarts are truly mix and match, so don’t be afraid to experiment.

The recipe and detailed instructions are at the end of this post. For this recipe, we need granulated sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla extract, bread flour, apricot jam, water, milk, cornstarch, Salt, kiwis, and strawberries. Looks like we have it all. Ready, set, bake…

Note: The recipe at the bottom is for one tart, the ingredients above, and used throughout this post, have been doubled because I was making two tarts at the same time.

First we’re going to make the pastry shell. Place the sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Using the dough hook mix at low speed until just combined (do not cream). Add the flour and mix until dough is smooth. Be careful not to overmix the dough, it will change its texture by overworking the gluten and make it difficult to roll out later.

Flatten the dough between a piece of parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. The flatter you can get the dough the faster it will chill.

Now to make the glaze. Place the jam, sugar, and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly. Lower heat and continue to cook for a few minutes, until a quarter inch string can be pulled between the back of two spoons. If the mixture gets too thick add more water to thin it out. Remove from the heat and strain to remove any chunks of apricot. Reserve.

Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Line an 11-inch tart pan with the dough. I place my tart pan on the dough quickly to make sure its wide enough to cover the pan. This dough has high butter content and must be worked with quickly or it will break apart. I roll the dough up on a rolling pin and then unroll it on top of the tart pan. This usually works well, however, if you work too slowly you may need to patch areas of the shell. If it breaks don’t worry too much, all but the sides are going to be covered with pastry cream and fruit. Run a rolling pin over the top of the tart pan to get clean edges.

Now we’re going to blind bake the tart shell. Place plastic wrap over the dough and fill with beans or pie weights. Combine the plastic wrap in the center of the tart and make sure no plastic is touching metal. Bake at 375° F for about 12 minutes, until the visible shell is light golden brown. Remove the beans or weights and bake for 6-8-minutes longer (the bottom of the tart shell should be pale brown). Let the tart shell cool.

Brush about two tablespoons worth of the apricot glaze over the bottom and sides of the tart shell and reserve the glaze for decorating the fruit. If the glaze is too thick you can thin it out by adding a teaspoon or two of hot water and stirring it into the glaze.

Turning our attention to the pastry cream whisk the cornstarch, sugar, and salt together in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk thoroughly so the cornstarch is incorporated well or you will get lumps. Gradually add the eggs and mix until smooth.

Place the milk in a saucepan and over medium heat bring to a boil. Be very careful here and make sure to use a large enough saucepan, milk expands when it boils. Slowly add about a third of the hot milk to the egg mixture while whisking rapidly. Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the remaining milk and continue to whisk until the mixture comes to a boil over medium heat.

Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and the butter, stir until the butter has all melted. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool down slightly (place a piece of plastic wrap over the top to stop a skin from forming).

Pour the warm, not hot, pastry cream evenly in the tart shell and allow to cool. It should spread evenly because it’s still warm if it does not use a spatula to evenly spread it out. I place knife marks on the top to guide me in placing the fruit – this makes it easier to cut and serve. Remove the tart from the pan and place on the serving plater. Decorate as desired with fresh fruit and bush fruit with warmed apricot glaze.