Fruit Tart With Pastry Cream
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Sweets
Serves: 1 (9 inch) tart
Ingredients
Pastry Cream:
  • 2cups half-and-half
  • 5 Tablespoons sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 3 Tablespoons cornstarch
  • 4 Tablespoons butter (cold), cut into 4 pieces
  • 1½ teaspoons vanilla
Tart Crust:
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 Tablespoon heavy cream
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • 1¼ cups flour
  • ⅓ cup confectioners' sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 8 Tablespoons butter (1 stick), chilled, cut into ½-inch cubes
Fruit and glaze:
  • Fruit, any kind you like
  • Citrus Glaze OR
  • apricot or apple jelly
Instructions
To make the pastry cream:
  1. Heat the half n half and 2-3 Tablespoons of sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a slow simmer, stirring frequently so it doesn't burn.
  2. Whisk the egg yolks, 2 Tablespoons of sugar, salt and cornstarch until smooth.
  3. Add a small amount, about a cup of the steeped half n half to the egg yolk mixture, whisking vigorously.
  4. Gradually add a bit more of the hot half n half to the egg yolk mixture and then pour it all back into the saucepan.
  5. Cook on medium heat for about 4 minutes, whisking the whole time, until bubbles burst across the whole surface. Cook just until it thickens.
  6. Take off the heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla.
  7. If your cream becomes lumpy, no problem. We can fix that. Simply pour the cream through a fine mesh strainer.
  8. Pour into a bowl and cover with parchment paper or plastic wrap, placing it right on top of the pastry cream. This will prevent a skin from forming on top of the cream.
  9. Cool and refrigerate until it's completely cold.
  10. You can make the pastry cream a few days ahead and just store it in the refrigerator.
For the tart crust:
  1. Combine the flour, powdered sugar and salt in a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine.
  2. Sprinkle the chilled butter pieces into the flour. Pulse 10-15 times, until there are small pieces of butter in the flour.
  3. Mix the egg yolk, heavy cream and vanilla in a small bowl and whisk together.
  4. Pour into the dough and pulse a few more times until it starts to come together close to the blades. You don't want to overwork the dough. When you press the dough between your fingers, it should stay together. If it's too loose, add a bit more cream.
  5. Dump the dough onto a sheet of aluminum foil, plastic wrap or parchment paper. Work it with your hands to form a disc. Wrap it up and refrigerate for at least 20-30 minutes.
  6. You can also make the dough a few days ahead of time and store in the refrigerator.
  7. On a floured surface, roll out the tart dough into an 11 inch circle.
  8. Gently ease it into a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom.
  9. Trim off the top of the excess dough with a knife or simply roll the rolling pin over edges of the pan.
  10. Place it in the freezer for 30 minutes.
  11. (You can also keep the frozen tart shell in the pan, sealed in a ziptop bag, etc. in the freezer for up to a month.)
  12. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  13. Cover the tart with aluminum foil and place pie weights inside. You can also use beans or rice to weigh it down.
  14. Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the crust is almost golden.
  15. Uncover and take off the weights and continue baking for another 5 minutes, just until the crust is golden. Cool.
To assemble:
  1. When you're ready to serve the tart, pour the pastry cream into the tart shell.
  2. Top with the fruit of your choice.
  3. Gently brush the glaze onto the fruit.
  4. If you'd rather not make a glaze, heat up apple or apricot jelly in the microwave just until it melts and use that to brush on top of the fruit.
Recipe by Olga's Flavor Factory at https://www.olgasflavorfactory.com/?p=6765