Fruit Tart With Shortbread Crust

5 from 1 vote

Feb 07, 2014, Updated May 07, 2023

Shortbread crust tart filled with fresh fruits

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Fruit Tart is the easiest “fancy” dessert that you can make. I mean it looks so pretty, fancy and complicated as well but in reality it’s an easy dessert to put together. The best part is that you make make the crust and filling a day before and just put everything together on the day you want to serve it. Easy right?

I opted for an easy crust recipe , the shortbread crust where you just cream the butter and sugar, add the flour and bake the crust. I love the buttery flavor of shortbread cookies and if you are like me, you will love this crust. It’s really simple to make and tastes great.

Some important points to keep in mind while making this recipe.

1. The filling for the crust should be really really thick, like I mean really thick. I made a thick custard but even that wasn’t good enough. The custard kind of melted after being out of the fridge for 30 minutes or so. That shouldn’t happen else you will not be able to get nice clean pieces out of this tart.

2. The best time to assemble the tart is just few minutes before serving it. You can have the crust, filling and fruits ready and assemble everything an hour before serving it. Refrigerate for an hour, take it out 10 minutes before serving. Cut into pieces and serve.

3. You can use a number of fillings here : custard, pastry filling, lemon curd, cream cheese etc etc.

The next time I make tart, I will bake the crust with the filling so that it sets in well. Filling it with custard (without baking) is a quick way to make a great dessert but like I mentioned before make sure the custard in really thick. You can fill it with any flavor of custard you like.

This recipe makes 2 X 9 inch tarts.

Yield: 2 X 9 inch fruit tarts

Ingredients

For the crust

All purpose flour: 1.5 cups + 1/4 cup

Vanilla: 3/4 tsp

Butter: 1.5 sticks [unsalted, at room temperature]

Sugar: 1/2 cup

Salt: a pinch

For the fruit tart

Custard, thick: 2.5 cups, prepared

Sliced fruits: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, kiwi etc.

Method

1. Cream together the butter and sugar in the steel bowl of your stand mixer or using hand mixer.

2. Once the butter and sugar come together, add in the vanilla and mix. Now slowly add the flour in parts and also the salt.

3. Mix till the dough comes together. You will know the dough is done when most of it sticks to the paddle.

– Cover the dough with a cling sheet and keep it in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.

4. Using your fingers, press the dough into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch tart pan.

5. Use a spatula on back of a spoon to smooth the dough.

6. Prick the crust all over using a fork. This is to ensure that the dough doesn’t rise during baking.

– Cover the tart pan with a cling sheet and put in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill.

– Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

7. Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes, keep an eye on the oven while it’s baking. You want to crust to get golden brown.

8. Let the crust cool completely and then fill it with custard/pastry filling of your choice. Please note the filling should be really thick.

9. Decorate the tart with fresh fruits. I used strawberries, blueberries, kiwi and raspberries.

10. Keep the tart in fridge to set.

11. Take it out 10 minutes before serving. Cut the fruit tart into pieces and serve with some whipped cream on top.

* To make sure that the crust doesn’t get soggy, do not assemble the tart hours before. An hour before serving should be good.

* You can glaze the tart with apricot or any other glaze to make sure the fruits don’t try out. It also adds a nice flavor to the tart.

* Use very thick filling in this recipe as we aren’t baking the crust with the filling so it should be thick enough to set on it’s own without baking.

* Keep an eye on the crust when it bakes. Do not overbake it.

* Let the crust cool completely before filling it with custard.