Geometric Fruit Tart Recipes

GEOMETRIC FRUIT TART

Steps:

• Whisk the pudding mix, milk and mango puree together in a large bowl for 2 minutes to fully blend and thicken. Pour the mixture into the graham-cracker crust, filling the crust just shy of the top. Spread evenly with an offset spatula, then refrigerate until chilled and set, about 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, prepare the fruit: Cut off the ends of the kiwis, and then peel off the skin by slipping a spoon under the skin and turning the fruit so the spoon separates the skin from the flesh. Slice the kiwis into 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch thick rounds. Peel the mango, then trim the bottom end to flatten slightly. On the wider side of the mango, work inwards cutting thin slices about 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch thick until you reach the pit; repeat on the other side. Next, peel and cut the pitaya into 1/8-inch-thick to 1/4-inch-thick slices. Using a 1 1/2-inch diamond-shaped cutter and a paring knife, cut out about 20 kiwi diamonds, 20 mango diamonds and about 10 pitaya diamonds (this will give you a few pieces more than you'll need). If you don't have a diamond-shaped cutter, use a paring knife to cut out diamonds that are each about 1 1/2 inches long.
• Once all of your fruit is cut, remove the tart from fridge and begin decorating: Using a small offset spatula to help place the fruit, start in the center of the tart and make a large diamond shape with 9 of the pitaya diamonds. Then make a border around the pitaya with 16 mango diamonds. Then place the kiwi diamonds around the mango, covering the tart all the way to the edges; you will need to trim off parts of the remaining kiwi diamonds to fit along the crust.

FRESH FRUIT TARTS

Steps:

• Make the crust: In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and heavy cream. In the bowl of a food processor with a blade attachment, pulse the flour, butter, sugar and salt until no big chunks of butter remain. Slowly add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture. Blend to combine but don't overwork the dough.
• Remove the dough and, turning it out onto a lightly floured surface, knead it 4 or 5 times to incorporate.
• Divide the dough in half if making one large tart. Divide the dough into four pieces if making mini tarts. Flatten the dough pieces into discs with your hands, wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 20 minutes and up to overnight. (Freeze any remaining pieces for another project for up to 3 months.)
• Make the pastry cream: Put a damp kitchen towel under a medium bowl and whisk together the egg yolks and 1/4 cup of the sugar until the yolks are lighter in color, about 2 minutes. (The towel will ensure the bowl doesn't slide around.) Add the cornstarch and salt, whisk again, and set the bowl aside.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and the remaining sugar 1/4 cup sugar and cook until the mixture almost boils, 4 to 5 minutes. With one hand, start whisking the egg yolk mixture; with the other hand, slowly drizzle the hot milk into the bowl, whisking until all the milk is incorporated.
• Pour the custard back into the saucepan and continue cooking, stirring constantly, on medium-high heat, until the mixture is thick and one bubble plops up on top, about 2 minutes.
• Remove the custard from the heat and pour into a clean medium bowl. Don't scrape the pot if the bottom looks burned or like scrambled eggs. Now, stir in the butter and vanilla. Keep stirring until the butter melts. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the bowl so it is touching the pastry cream, then refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Bake the tart shell or shells: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough on a floured surface until it is a circle (about 9 inches across and 1/2 inch thick for one large tart and about 6 inches across and 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick for four mini tarts.
• Lay the dough onto the tart pan, and then using your fingers, gently press it down. Try not to tear the dough or make it too thin. Ideally, it should be an even thickness all the way across.
• Using a sharp knife, carefully trim the edges so the dough is perfectly even with the top of the tart shell (see Cook's Note). Place the tart shell on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet. Using a fork, poke a bunch of holes in the bottom of the tart shell to keep bubbles from forming during baking. Refrigerate the tart shell for 20 minutes. Repeat with the remaining tart shells if using.
• Remove the pan or pans from the fridge and lay a piece of parchment over the chilled dough. Fill the uncooked tart shell with pie weights or dried beans or uncooked rice.
• Bake for 10 minutes, then, using oven mitts, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Remove the pie weights and parchment. Return the baking sheet to the oven, continuing to bake until the crust is golden brown, 5 to 8 more minutes. Let the pan or pans cool on a wire rack.
• Make the glaze and finish the tart: In a medium pot over medium heat, cook the apricot jam and water. Stir with a fork as it cooks until the mixture is a thin, shiny liquid, about 3 minutes.
• Take the pastry cream from the fridge and, in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed, beat the pastry cream to loosen it up. Spread the pastry cream in a thin 1/4- to 1/2-inch layer on the bottom of the tart shell.
• Carefully cut the strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, kiwi, mangos and figs. Arrange the fruit so there is no visible pastry cream. (You can make the tart look awesome by laying the fruit in cool patterns.)
• Once the fruit is arranged, use a soft pastry brush to paint it with the warm apricot glaze. Don't leave any bare spots. Make sure to glaze all the fruit. Take your time.
• Cut and serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 12 hours.

GEOMETRIC RHUBARB TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• For the butter crust: Place the flour, sugar and salt into the well of a food processor and pulse a few times. Add the cold butter cubes and pulse until the mixture is fine and mealy. Add the egg and pulse, then run the food processor until the dough comes together.
• Turn the dough out onto an 8-inch square tart pan and evenly press into the bottom and sides of the pan. Using a fork, prick the bottom of the crust all over to prevent bubbling. Par-bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the crust has barely cooked through and is still pale. Remove from the oven and cool completely.
• For the rhubarb: Trim both ends of each rhubarb stalk so it is 8 inches long. Slice each stalk in half lengthwise, keeping the sliced halves together. Slice each halved stalk into eight 1-inch squares. Slice each square in half to create triangles (128 pieces total).
• For the almond filling: Place the butter and sugar into a mixing bowl and beat together using an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and continue to mix together. Beat the almond meal, flour and vanilla into the butter mixture until fully incorporated. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and spread evenly using a spatula.
• To assemble: Starting from the top left corner, take 4 triangles (top pieces) and arrange the pieces together to create a "frame" with a diamond pattern in the center. Repeat until all top triangle pieces have been used, forming 16 "frames." Take the bottom triangle pieces and arrange them inside each "frame" cut-side up, creating a diamond shape. Repeat until all of the rhubarb pieces have been used and the tart is filled.
• Brush the top of the tart with a little bit of water and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake the tart for 25 to 30 minutes, until the filling has just cooked through, the top is bubbling and the crust is browned. Allow the tart to cool, about 1 hour. Remove the tart from the pan, slice and serve.

HAPPY AS A GRAM TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Combine the cranberries and 2 tablespoons water in a 2-quart saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the cranberries burst and start to break down, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and press the cranberries through a fine-mesh sieve with a silicone spatula, extracting as much puree as possible. Discard the remaining pulp and return the puree to the saucepan.
• Add the lemon juice, sugar, salt, eggs, and egg yolks to the cranberry puree and whisk to combine. Cook over medium heat, whisking continuously, until the mixture is warmed through. Add the butter gradually and stir until all the cubes have melted. Continue cooking until the mixture is thickened enough to coat a spatula, 5 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently and scraping the corners of the saucepan.
• Remove from the heat and strain the curd through a fine-mesh sieve.
• Keep the baked tart shell in the tart pan and place on a baking sheet. Pour the curd into the tart shell, smoothing the surface. Bake the tart for 5 minutes, just to set the filling.
• Cool completely before decorating.
• Peel and cut the fruit into ¼-inch slices. Arrange the fruit slices on a large plate organized by type.
• Cut any type of triangle-equilateral, scalene, obtuse, acute, isosceles, right-from a piece of mango, slicing as close to the edge as possible to maximize the yield of each fruit slice. Pause here if you feel the need to Google image search some triangles. Otherwise, throw math to the wind and cut any sort of shape with three sides. Place it along a tart edge.
• Cut another shape from a kiwi slice and place it next to the mango, leaving some space between the fruit, not unlike tile grout lines. Generally, polygons like triangles, parallelograms, and trapezoids work well for this design. I avoid shapes with more than four sides mainly to save time, but if manually sliced hexagons or even hendecagons (back to Google...) are your thing, by all means, go wild! This is your tart, your life.
• Cut another shape, perhaps a rhombus, from a slice of dragon fruit, and fit it next to the kiwi. Continue cutting shapes, alternating among fruits, and puzzling the pieces together on the tart. Build out from your starting point and slowly fill the whole surface, gradually working your way to the other edge.
• Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve. This tart is best consumed within two days.

TROPICAL TART

Steps:

• Using an electric whisk, beat the mascarpone, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, coconut extract, if using, and a pinch of salt until smooth. Whisk in the coconut cream.
• Spoon the filling into the pastry case, smooth the top and return to the fridge for at least 2 hrs or overnight. Once set, use the tropical fruit to decorate the top of the tart in your desired geometric pattern.