Fruit and Custard Tart

It’s the first post of the NEW YEAR, and there is no time for New Year resolutions in this household, there is only time for a tasty fruit and custard tart!

This classic fruit and custard tart has four components, a fluted edged sweet pastry crust, luscious crème patissiere, whipped cream and glistening rows of fresh fruit.

While the components of this fruit and custard tart can be made a day or two in advance, it is best enjoyed the day it is assembled. The cookie-like pastry crust has a sweet flavor and a crisp texture that is the perfect case for holding the pastry custard and cream. Once the crust is baked and cooled, the crust is then sealed by brushing on a thin layer of apricot glaze. This will prevent the filling from softening the crust over time. The classic filling for a fruit tart is crème patissiere, which is a rich, thick custard made from a mixture of milk, vanilla, eggs, sugar, flour and cornstarch (a thickening agent) that is cooked on the stove. We added a layer of whipped cream on top of the pastry custard before applying our fruit.

Of course, the first thing you notice about a fruit tart is the beautiful fruit arranged in concentric circles on top of the cream. There are so many fruits to choose from but it is important that the fruit looks and tastes its best. While berries, with their vibrant colours, are always popular, other fruits are nice as well. We opted for preserved peaches, slices of fresh kiwi, blueberries and raspberries. To finish off glaze the fruit with either an apricot glaze (recipe included) to give the fruit a lovely shine and it also prevents the fruit from drying out.

Looking for other fruit based desserts then check out our Grilled Peaches with Ricotta and Balsamic Glaze or Apple and Rhubarb Crumble.

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Tasty Fruit and Custard Tart – Recipe Instructions

Fruit and Custard Tart
 
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This classic fruit and custard tart has four components, a fluted edged sweet pastry crust, luscious crème patissiere, whipped cream and glistening rows of fresh fruit.
Author:
Recipe type: Tart
Cuisine: French
Serves: 8
Ingredients
Sweet Pastry Crust
  • 1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ¼ cup of granulated white sugar
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
Creme patissiere
  • 1 ¼ cups of 2% milk
  • ½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise or teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • ¼ cup granulated white sugar
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch (corn flour)
Whipped Cream
  • 300 ml of whipped cream
Apricot Glaze
  • ½ cup apricot jam or preserves
  • 1 tablespoon water
Toppings
  • 3 cups of fruit (we used preserved peaches, fresh kiwi fruit, blueberries and raspberries
Instructions
Sweet Pastry Crust
  1. Place the flour, butter and sugar in a food processor and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
  2. Add the beaten egg and process until the mixture just comes together.
  3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth.
  4. Flatten the pastry into a disk, cover the pastry into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes or just until firm.
  5. Lightly spray with a non-stick vegetable/flour cooking spray, an 8 - 9 inch (20 - 23 cm) tart pan with a removable bottom.
  6. Evenly pat the chilled pastry onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
  7. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Lightly prick bottom of pastry crust with the tines of a fork (this will prevent the dough from puffing up as it bakes). Place tart pan on a larger baking pan and bake crust for 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and continue to bake the crust for about 15 minutes or until dry and lightly golden brown. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely before filling. Can be covered and stored for a few days.
Creme patissiere
  1. In a medium-sized heatproof bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolk together (Do not let this sit too long).
  2. Sift the flour and cornstarch (corn flour) together and then add to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste.
  3. Meanwhile, in a saucepan bring the milk and vanilla just to boiling (just until milk starts to foam up.)
  4. Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. (You can strain the mixture, if you get lumps).
  5. Pour the egg mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 - 60 seconds until it becomes thick.
  6. Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Cool to room temperature.
  7. Beat or whisk before using to get rid of any lumps that may have formed.
Whipped Cream
  1. Lightly whip 300 ml of fresh cream using an electric beater.
Apricot Glaze
  1. Heat the apricot jam (preserves) and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until liquid. This can also be done in the microwave.
  2. Remove from heat and strain the jam through a fine strainer to remove and fruit lumps.
Assemble the tart
  1. Remove the tart from the fluted sides of the pan.
  2. Spread a thin a thin layer of apricot glaze over the bottom and sides of the baked tart shell to prevent the tart from getting soggy.
  3. Let the tart dry for 20 minutes.
  4. Add first layer of creme patissiere.
  5. Add second layer of whipped cream.
  6. Place fruit in concentric overlapping circles, starting at the outside edge.
  7. After arranging the fruit, rewarm the glaze, and gently brush a light coat on the fruit.
  8. Serve immediately, or if refrigerating bring to room temperature before serving. This fruit tart is best eaten the same day as it is assembled. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers.

 

Blueberry and Lemon Loaves

Now for those of you who have seen our recipe for Blueberry and Lemon cupcakes, this is not a repost. It is just a fact we love the combination of blueberries and lemon together! We love them so much we bought a dwarf lemon tree and also a blueberry bush the other weekend. These Blueberry and Lemon Loaves are just so easy and tasty you have to give them a try.

It is currently blueberry season in Australia and at the moment and we cannot resist the punnets when we are at the shops or markets. As a result, we have ended up with an abundance of blueberries in the fridge! For those of you who know Brooke is a fan of all things lemon, there are always a couple of lemons in the fruit bowl as well making this simple recipe a perfect treat to make on a lazy weekend.

This recipe is courtesy of Live Well Bake Often and is made as one loaf. However, due to time restrictions, we decided to make this into 8 small loaves, which for the two of us works perfectly for a snack to take to work during the week.

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Tasty Blueberry and Lemon Loaves – Recipe Instructions

Blueberry and Lemon Loaves
 
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Blueberry and Lemon Loaves perfect for a snack to take to work during the week.
Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour + 1 tablespoon, divided
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • ½ cup. vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup plain greek yogurt (or sour cream)
  • Zest & juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • Lemon Glaze
  • ¾ cup icing sugar
  • 1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray a 9x5 loaf pan or small 8 loaf tin with cooking spray and set aside.
  2. In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with 1 tablespoon of the flour and set aside (this helps to prevent the blueberries from sinking).
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups of flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
  4. In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, vanilla, eggs, sugar, greek yogurt, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
  5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients, just until smooth. Do not overmix or your bread will come out tough.
  6. Lightly fold the blueberries into the batter.
  7. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 15- 20 minutes. The loaves will be finished when a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
  8. Once loaves are finished, remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes in the baking tin. Remove from baking tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
  9. Once loaves are cool, whisk together the icing sugar and lemon juice. Start with half the lemon juice and whisk well. If your mixture is too thick, slowly add the rest of the juice.
  10. Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze on top of your loaves. The glaze should harden up a little more after about 15-20 minutes

 

Blueberry and lemon cupcakes recipe

This blueberry and lemon cupcake recipe is just one of those things that is very regular but somehow elevates the day a little bit. It’s low maintenance, highly snackable, and 100% delicious.

The holidays are finally here for some and to start the break off we headed to the markets for a quick breakfast bagel and a look to see what else was available. After a couple of purchases and a jam doughnut – we also ended up with some great blueberries grown in Mt Baker.

With it just being the start of blueberry season here in Western Australia, there are plenty of yummy things to make with them and we paired our blueberries with of course Brooke’s favourite – lemon! Add them together and what you get is a simple blueberry and lemon cupcake recipe which will have you looking for just one more.

The combination of the two fruits actually works really well. The cake itself isn’t overly sweet and has a nice zesty flavour, combined with the bursting tang of fresh blueberries. Although the decadence of a lemon cream cheese icing isn’t at all unwelcome, the cupcakes are flavourful enough on their own given the delicious combination. If you are making these on a hot day like it was in Perth, I would even recommend skipping the icing and simply giving the cupcakes a simple dusting with icing sugar.

This recipe for blueberry and lemon cupcakes is a great summer treat. So bring a little sunshine to your day with these delicious lemon blueberry cupcakes.

If you like this recipe – then check out our other dessert and sweets recipes – like our recipes for no-bake mars bar sliceginger-nut biscuitseasy raspberry friandsblueberry and lemon loaves or Belgian lemon tea cake.

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How to make blueberry and lemon cupcakes

Blueberry and Lemon Cupcakes
 
Prep time
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These Blueberry and Lemon cupcakes are a great summer treat and have a nice zesty flavour, combined with the bursting tang of fresh blueberries.
Author:
Recipe type: Baked Goods
Cuisine: American
Serves: 12
Ingredients
Cupcake
  • ¾ cup unsalted butter (roomtemp)
  • 3 eggs (let stand at room temp)
  • 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1¼ cups granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons finely shredded lemon peel
  • Blueberries, coated with flour
Icing
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • ¼ cup unsalted butter (let stand at room temp)
  • 1 block cream cheese (250g)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Instructions
Cupcake
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and place paper cups into cupcake tins.
  2. Mix the butter and eggs.
  3. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.
  4. Mix the granulated sugar, milk and lemon peel together.
  5. Then mix the butter and eggs into the milk and sugar mixture.
  6. Mix the flour into the wet mixture and blend.
  7. Fill each cup three-quarters full with batter. Drop the coated blueberries on top.
  8. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.
Icing
  1. Combine the powdered sugar, butter, cream cheese, lemon juice and zest together until light and fluffy.
  2. Pipe onto the cupcakes and decorate with lemon peel, blueberries and a mint leaf.
Notes
Decorate your cupcake with extra fresh blueberries, lemon peel or mint leaves.