Fruit Tart with Vanilla Pastry Cream

Recently, I upgraded from my hand-me-down ancient laptop to a brand new mac. It was my graduation present from my oh so wonderful father. He is the best. Not just because he bought me a lightning fast new computer but also because he donates to the ingredients fund (aka, he is the ingredients fund) for all my baking. Once I received my laptop in the mail, I was anxious to break it in. So I opened the box, turned on the computer, and that's about as far as I got. I realized that I had no clue how to work this fancy new computer!? You might as well have asked to perform brain surgery. So after I successfully opened every single folder from my music (all 240 of them...at the same time...every. single. folder.) and did some other stupid things, I think I finally got the hang of this thing. Mostly thanks to my brother, Jake. He might have helped me a little...okay, a whole lot. So here I am, writing my first blog post from my very-convient-almost-to-the-point-of-inconvenient computer.

On to the good stuff. I have become obsessed with the idea of tarts lately. After I made this lemon curd tart and realized how amazing it was, I quickly started to search for other tart recipes that I could make and eat the whole thing as if it were my last meal. I decided on a a fruit tart because A. they look so pretty B. I've been craving fruit and C. I love making homemade custards. There isn't really any store bought custard or pastry cream out there that can match the flavor of the homemade version. Granted, it is a little hard to make your own pastry cream than to buy it in the store, but with a little patience and willingness to mess up, soon enough you'll be able to make pastry cream in your sleep.

It took me about 3 days to make this tart. Not because it was really difficult to make or because I can't read a recipe or because my oven broke or because my new computer was distracting me. No, no, none of those things. It was simply because once I decided to make it I realized I only had one stick of butter--one stick of butter, seriously. What am I supposed to do with that-- so I started with the tart shell and let it refrigerate for a few days. This recipe's tart shell is made a little differently than the shell I made with the lemon curd tart. It uses confectioner's sugar rather than regular sugar. So I tried it out. I'm glad I did. It had the perfect sweetness. New favorite tart shell, check.


After a quick trip to the grocery store the next day, I made the pastry cream. And of course you need to let  it cool before assembling the tart, so I was stuck with putting it in the fridge to let it cool and waiting another WHOLE day before I could assemble my tart. My appetite was growing angry with me.


The next day, this baby was finally born into creation and sadly left it not but 24 hours later. I baked the shell, filled it with cream, and placed sliced fruit on top. Perfection. Unfortunately, I had to wait until I got home from swim practice to FINALLY eat it. I may or may not have driven over the speed limit on the way home from practice to get to my tart...sometimes I do bad things. 

Verdict: this is one of the best things I've ever eaten. We called it "Rootie tuttie fresh and fruity ." My mom came up with that, okay. The pastry cream and the fruit balance each other perfectly. I honestly could have eaten this whole darn thing in one sitting. Making this tart could really help if you are trying to work on your self-discipline; make it and try to resist the temptation to eat it, and if you do resist it, reward yourself with a piece. Win-win.


Fruit Tart with Vanilla Pastry Cream
From : Annies Eats

Pastry Cream:
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 1/2 cup sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 5 large egg yolks
- 3 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 4 Tbsp. cold, unsalted butter cut into 4 cubes
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Tart Dough:
- One large egg yolk
- 1 Tbsp. heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2/3 cup confectioner's sugar 
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 8 Tbsp. cold, unsalted butter cute into 1/2-inch cubes 


Topping:
- 2 large kiwis
- 6-8 strawberries
(you don't have to use these specific fruits. You can adapt it and use any other fruit you like)


Pastry Cream:
1. Bring to a simmer the half-and-half, 6 tablespoons sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar.
 2. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl, then add remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar and whisk until it has started to dissolve and mixture is creamy.  Whisk in cornstarch until combined, about 30 seconds, and mixtures turns a thick, pale yellow.
3. When the half-and-half mixture has reached a full simmer, gradually whisk it into the egg mixture, which will temper the eggs. 
4. Return this combined mixture to the saucepan, making sure to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula to transfer the entire amount.  Return to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until a few bubbles burst on the surface and the mixture thickens and becomes glossy, ~ 30 seconds. It should become the consistency of pudding. It may take longer to thicken than 30 seconds. Remember that refrigerating the cream will help it thicken as well. 

5. Remove pastry cream from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla.  
6. Pour it through a fine mesh sieve set over a medium bowl to remove any lumps or egg clumps.  

*I made this pastry cream at 9 o'clock at night...hence, the bad pics.


Tart Shell:
1.  Whisk together the egg yolk, cream, and vanilla in a small bowl and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine the flour, sugar, and salt.  Scatter the pieces of butter over the flour mixture, and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about fifteen 1-second pulses.   

3. With the food processor running, add the egg mixture and process just until the dough comes together, ~25 seconds.   
4. Remove dough to a piece of plastic wrap and press into a 6-inch disk, wrap up, and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour, maximum of 48 hours.
5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator. If it has been longer than 1 hour, let the dough stand at room temperature until it is malleable.  Unwrap the disk and roll it out into a 13-inch round between 2 pieces of floured parchment paper.  If the dough becomes soft and sticky, slip it into the refrigerator until for another 20 - 30 minutes before proceeding. 
6. Transfer the dough to a tart pan (9- or 9 1/2-inch diameter pan with removable bottom). Place pan on a plate and freeze for 30 minutes. 
7. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat to 375F. Set the dough-lined tart pan on a baking sheet and place a 12-inch square of aluminum foil over the surface of the dough, putting pie weights inside to keep the foil on the dough surface.  You can also do what I did if you don't have pie weights handy. Place the tin foil over the dough then put a bowl of water on the the tin foil. Voila.

 8. Bake for ~30 minutes until golden brown, rotating half way through. Remove from oven, carefully remove pie weights and foil, and continue baking until deep golden brown in color, about 5 - 8 more minutes. Let cool about 30 minutes.

Assembly:
When the tart shell has cooled completely, spread the cold pastry cream over the bottom.  Arrange the fruit on top of the pastry cream as desired.

Isn't it a beaut?