Fruit Tart Flag Recipes

AMERICAN FLAG FRUIT TART

Steps:

• To make crust,put the flour, powdered sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine.
• Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles cornmeal with some pea sized chunks.
• Whisk the egg yolk, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. Continue pulsing with long 10 second pulses until the mixture comes together.
• Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently knead until any extra flour is incorporated.
• Press the dough into an 11-inch greased tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Top with a piece of non-stick foil or buttered foil and press it onto the surface.
• Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Remove to wire rack to cool completely.
• When crust is cooled, make filling by placing all filling ingredients in a bowl and beat until the mixture is smooth. Scrape into the tart shell and smooth top with an offset spatula.
• To decorate, select the biggest blueberries and cut strawberries in half, removing the stems and hulls. Set aside.
• Whip cream with powdered sugar and pipe some rows of cream across the surface leaving enough space between for rows of strawberries. Leave one corner free of whipped cream for the blueberries.
• Add strawberry halves, cut side down, in rows, then fill the open area with rows of blueberries.
• Keep chilled until you serve.

FRUIT-TART FLAG

Steps:

• Fill premade miniature tart shells or phyllo cups with sweet mascarpone cream (recipe below), then arrange on a tray and top with blueberries and halved strawberry slices to create stars and stripes.
• Mascarpone Cream:
• Beat an 8-ounce container of mascarpone cheese and 3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar with a mixer until smooth. Gently fold in 1/2 cup freshly whipped cream.

NO-FUSS FRUIT TART

Steps:

• Process the biscuits and the butter to a sandy rubble and press into the sides and bottom of a deep-sided fluted tart tin approx. 25cm diameter x 4-5cm deep / 10inch diameter x 2 inches deep with a loose base. Place in the freezer (or fridge if that is not possible) for about 10-15 minutes. In a clean processor bowl, process the cream cheese and lemon curd (or just mix by hand) and spread into the bottom of the chilled tart tin, covering the base evenly. Arrange the fruit gently (so it doesn't sink in too much) on top of the lemony cream cheese in a decorative manner, leaving some of the strawberries unhulled, with their picturesque stalks attached. Place the tart in the fridge, preferably overnight, though for at least 4 hours. It does need to get properly cold in order to set enough for the tart to be unsprung and sliced easily.

MINI SUMMER FRUIT TARTS

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on high speed until smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and cream the sugar with the butter on high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the egg yolks and vanilla extract and beat to combine.
• Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed just until combined, being careful not to over mix. The dough should be moistened throughout but still a bit crumbly.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
• While the dough chills, preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.
• Once the cookie dough has chilled, scoop 1 Tablespoon of dough, roll into a ball using your hands, and place a cookie dough ball into each greased well of the mini muffin pan. You should have 24 balls of dough.
• Bake the cookies for 8 to 10 minutes or just until lightly golden. Immediately upon removing the muffin pan from the oven, use the back side of a teaspoon measuring spoon to press down the centers of each cookie, forming a cup. Let the cookie cups cool in the muffin pan for 5 minutes before carefully removing them from the pan and transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
• In a medium bowl, beat heavy cream using a handheld electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
• In large bowl, beat cream cheese and sour cream using a handheld electric mixer until smooth. Add confectioners sugar, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt and beat until combined.
• Add the whipped cream to bowl with the cream cheese mixture and fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the cheesecake filling for at least 1 hour (or up to 12 hours).
• Scoop 1 teaspoon of chilled no-bake cheesecake filling into each cooled sugar cookie cup. (To do this easily and neatly, use a teaspoon measuring spoon and a mini spatula.) Top each dessert with fresh berries and garnish with fresh herb sprigs (if using). Enjoy immediately.

AMERICAN FLAG TART

Steps:

• On a lightly floured surface, roll out a disc of pate sucree 1/8 inch thick to fit a 3 3/4-by-13 1/4-inch fluted, rectangular tart pan with a removable bottom. Brush off excess flour with a dry pastry brush. Carefully transfer dough to tart pan, tuck dough into the edges, gently pressing along sides, and allow excess dough to overhang the edges. Trim the dough by running your rolling pin over the dough against the edges. Gently shape the edges by pressing the length of your forefinger against each flute along the sides. Prick all over the bottom with the tines of a fork. Repeat with remaining disc of dough. Transfer to the refrigerator, and chill for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove chilled tart shells from refrigerator, and line each with a piece of parchment paper that overhangs the edges by at least 2 inches. Fill parchment with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until just starting to color, about 20 minutes. Remove parchment and weights from tart shells, and return tart shells to oven. Continue baking until tart bottom is golden, about 20 minutes more. Transfer tart shells to a cooling rack, and allow to cool completely. Carefully remove tart shells from pan.
• In a small bowl in the microwave or set over a pan of simmering water, heat chocolate until it is just melted, about 1 1/2 minutes; stir until smooth. Using the back of a spoon, line each tart shell with chocolate. Refrigerate to set, at least 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat apricot and raspberry jams in two separate saucepans with about 1 tablespoon water in each; strain into separate small bowls.
• Make top tart: Remove one lined tart shell from refrigerator and spread 1/3 of the creme fraiche filling over the bottom. Arrange 3 rows of unglazed raspberries 2/3 the length of the tart, leaving space between each row and at the top and bottom edges for 4 more rows. Dust with confectioners' sugar until raspberries are completely coated. Toss blueberries in a bowl with strained apricot jam. Fill left third of tart shell with a layer of glazed blueberries arranged snugly in rows; top with another layer of blueberries. Toss half the remaining raspberries with the strained raspberry jam, and carefully fill empty rows with some of the glazed raspberries, rinsing your hands as needed.
• Make bottom tart: Remove remaining tart shell from refrigerator, and spread a third of the creme fraiche filling over the bottom. Arrange 3 rows of remaining unglazed raspberries, starting at the top edge and leaving space between each and at the bottom edge for 4 more rows. Dust with confectioners' sugar until raspberries are completely coated. Fill empty rows with remaining glazed raspberries.
• Arrange tarts on a large board or tray to resemble the flag, and serve with remaining creme fraiche filling on the side. Finished tarts will hold at room temperature for several hours.

NO BAKE FRUIT TART

Steps:

• To prepare the Graham Cracker Crust: Mix the graham cracker crumbs together with the butter and the sugar until they are moist. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a tart pan. Place in the fridge for at least one hour.
• To prepare the filling: In your stand mixer with the whisk attachment beat whipped cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
• With your mixer and the paddle attachment, cream together cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice until smooth.
• Gently fold in whipped cream into cream cheese mixture, taking care not to mix it too much and "deflate" the whipped cream.
• To assemble the tart: Spread the filling into the graham cracker crust. Top with fresh berries. Chill for an hour before slicing and serving.

RUSTIC AUTUMN FRUIT TART

Steps:

• Cut the cold butter and cream cheese into the flour with a knife or pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (This can also be done in a food processor: pulse the cold butter into the flour until the mixture resembles cornmeal; add the cream cheese and pulse until it's the size of small peas.) When you squeeze a handful of the mixture, it should form a ball.
• Shape the dough into a round disk, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Toss the sliced apples and pear with the orange juice. Whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and cornstarch. Toss the fruit with the sugar-spice mixture and set aside.
• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Set out an 8-inch tart pan, or, if you'll be making a free-form tart (galette), lightly grease a baking sheet.
• Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured work surface to form a 10-inch circle. Transfer the dough to the tart pan or baking sheet. Arrange the fruit decoratively in the tart pastry.
• If you're baking the tart on a baking sheet, leave a 2-inch rim of dough and fold it up over the edge of the fruit (the pastry folds will overlap).
• Bake the tart in the preheated oven until the crust is browned and the filling is bubbly, about 30 minutes. Remove the tart from the oven and brush it with the apricot jam.