Pastry Cream Fruit Tart

By Christy

A couple weeks ago I took a tart making class at the Nashville Farmers Market. We learned to make several different tarts from Chef Andy Manchester. The fruit tart was by far my favorite. It would be good as a dessert but I decided to serve this delicious vanilla custard topped with strawberries for breakfast. The homemade crust is super flaky and tastes almost like a sugar cookie and the custard is like glorified vanilla pudding. And to make things easy, this fruit tart can be topped with any type of fresh fruit. I think this may be my new favorite sweet treat and of course that means I must share it with you all! Nothing says summer more than a dessert topped with fresh fruit.-- Enjoy!

Sucre Crust:

8 oz all purpose flour
8 oz cake flour
4 oz sugar
pinch of salt
3 sticks cold butter

2 egg yolks

1 oz heavy cream

In a mixer, combine all dry ingredients. Cube the cold butter and add to the dry ingredients. Mix on low until the mixture looks crumbly but there are still some pea sized chunks of butter. In another bowl, combine the heavy cream and the egg yolks. Once mixed, add the liquids to the flour mixture. Mix on low until it is just combined. Press the dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap for at least thirty minutes. (this can also be stored for 3 days before use). When you are ready to make your tart, take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow the dough to soften to a workable consistency but it should still be pretty cold. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to about a quarter of an inch and line the tart shell of choice. You will need to par bake (cook it before you add the custard). Poke small holes in the bottom of the dough with a fork and place tart back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. This shell will need to be completely baked so bake it on 350 for about 15 minutes- or until it is golden brown.

Pastry Cream:

2 cups whole milk

1/2 of a vanilla bean or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract

125 grams sugar

50 grams cornstarch

120 grams egg yolks

50 grams softened butter

Combine 1 1/2 cups of the milk with half of the sugar and the vanilla in a pot and heat till just before it boils. combine the other half of the sugar and cornstarch in another bowl. Add the remaining milk and egg yolks to the sugar and cornstarch and mix well. Temper (pour a little of the hot mixture into the cold mixture--this keeps the eggs from cooking/curtailing) the hot milk into the cornstarch mixture and mix. Combine the two back into the pot and cook on medium heat for a few minutes stirring constantly with a whisk. At this point start to turn up the heat slowly while continuing to whisk constantly. When the mixture begins to thicken, reduce the head a little and continue to whisk until the mixture becomes very think and it may "plop" (steam will escape through the custard making a plopping sound). Place custard in a mixer and mix on low until the custard is close to body temperature. Feel the bowl with your hand. At this point, add butter a little at a time until completely incorporated. Take the custard and spread out as thinly as possible on a baking sheet and place plastic wrap directly onto the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Chill covered until ready to use, up to 5 days. When ready to sure, whip the custard to a smooth consistency.

To put the tart together, just add the pastry cream and top with sliced fruit. If you are going to keep this out for a while consider covering the fruit with a fruit glaze which is just apricot jam and water boiled together and washed onto the fruit. This will keep the fruit looking nice and shiny and fresh looking.