pies and tarts: fresh fruit tart

a few weeks ago, i hosted a few of my closest friends for a french-style dinner and movie. we drank french red wine and watched an over-the-top french musical. for dinner, i made croque monsieur (grilled ham and cheese topped with mornay sauce and broiled) sandwiches and served them with a simple salad tossed with shallot and dijon vinaigrette. whenever i host dinners, i always panic when trying to come up with dessert possibilities, but this simple tarte aux fruits quickly solved that.

fresh fruit tart

yield: one 10-in. tart
1 1/2 to 2 lb. assorted, seasonal fresh fruit, thinly sliced in uniform pieces (note: for really eye-catching presentation, select a few fruits with contrasting colors like mango and kiwi, strawberries and blueberries)
pastry cream (recipe here)
10-in. tart shell (pâte sucrée recipe follows)
4 oz. apricot glaze, warmed (you could also use 2 oz. apricot preserves plus 2 oz. water)

pâte sucrée

7 1/2 oz. butter, softened
3 oz. confectioners’ sugar
1/3 t. salt
3/4 t. lemon zest, grated
4 drops vanilla extract
3 oz. eggs, beaten
12 oz. pastry flour

cream together the butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt, lemon zest and vanilla until the mixture is smooth and pale in color. add the eggs one at a time, and beat well in between each addition. add the flour, and carefully form the mixture into a soft dough. wrap in plastic film and punch down to flatten. chill in the refrigerator until firm. while the dough rests, prepare the pastry cream, and chill until firm.

preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. dust the counter very lightly with flour, and roll out the pâte sucrée into a rough circle about 1/4 inch thick. it should be big enough to easily cover your whole tart shell. roll up the dough carefully with your rolling pin, and drape it, centered, over the tart shell.

now, as if you were working with a piece of cloth, lift the dough in parts and fit it into the edges of the tart shell all the way around. don’t smoosh it-the dough is pretty delicate and will tear.

now with a paring knife or the heel of your hand, cut off the dough along the top of the tart shell s there is no overhang. pinch the dough carefully into the grooves going up the sides of the tart shell with your thumb and forefinger.

since the fruit filling is fresh, you must first bake the pastry shell completely before adding the pastry cream and fruit. this technique is called blind baking. it is often pricked all over with a fork to prevent rising. in this case, you line the shell with parchment paper and fill it with dried beans or rice –all the way up to the edges–to weigh it down. the weights should be removed a few minutes before baking time is over so the crust can brown evenly. note: you shouldn’t cook with the beans or rice you designate as your baking weights, but you can use them over and over again, so save them! bake until the shell is crisp and browned, 15 to 20 minutes. depending on how browned the sides look, take the beans out after about 12 minutes, give or take a few minutes.

let the crust cool completely. paint on a thin layer of apricot glaze, then fill it almost to the top with the chilled pastry cream, taking care to smooth out the top as evenly as possible. you may have to stir the pastry cream vigorously for a minute or two to smooth it out before filling your tart shell. starting with the outermost edge of the tart, arrange your fruit in concentric circles until you get to the center. with exceptionally small pieces of fruit, like raspberries and blueberries, leave them whole. when dealing with oranges or grapefruit, remove the skin and pith entirely with a sharp knife, and cut out each wedge, or segment, between the little skin dividers. this is known as orange supreme.

carefully brush the top with the apricot glaze to completely coat the fruit. note: you don’t need to brush the raspberries or blueberries with glaze. this tart is great served chilled–and it is easiest to slice then because the pastry cream will have set up. store it in the refrigerator for no more than seven days.