More Fruit Tarts

I want to share some mouth-watering, colorful pictures with you today! Here are some fruit tarts that I made for our Christmas Eve dinner. I had a lot of fun with them and tried to make each and every one of them look unique. There were big fruit tarts for the adults and mini fruit tarts for the kiddos. They were a huge hit and tasted just as good as they looked.



Sweet Dough
*You may want to cut this recipe in half.*

1 lb. Butter
1 lb. Sugar
5 Eggs
.25 oz. Salt
.125 oz. Baking Powder
2 lb. Cake Flour
Pinch of Orange Zest
Pinch of Lemon Zest

1. Cream butter, sugar, and zest until smooth.
2. Add eggs gradually, scraping bowl 2-3 times.
3. Sift flour with baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix!
4. Refrigerate 1 hour before using.
5. Roll out and line mini tart pans, dock, and blind bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes until light golden brown.
6. Remove from tart pans and allow to cool.


Pastry Cream
16 oz. Milk
2 oz. Sugar
- - - - - -
2 Egg Yolks
1 Whole Egg
2 oz. Sugar
4 T. Cornstarch
- - - - - -
1 t. Vanilla Extract
1 oz. Butter

1. Bring milk and first quantity of sugar to boil.
2. Meanwhile combine yolks, egg, cornstarch, and remaining sugar.
3. Temper hot milk into eggs and return to pot.
4. Bring to boil whisking constantly over medium heat.
5. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla.
6. Cool over ice water bath with plastic wrap directly on surface to prevent a skin from forming.


Fill fruit tart shells with pastry cream and then decorate with lots of fresh fruit, making sure to cover all of the pastry cream. In a small saucepan, heat up some apricot jam with a couple teaspoons of water until you get a thin glaze. Lightly brush apricot glaze on top of the fruit. This is what makes it shiny and really adds to the presentation.