4th of July Desserts: American Flag Berry Tart
Patriotic dessert recipes just don't get prettier -- or more delicious -- than this American flag mixed berry tart. A classic French fruit tart with an all-American spin: all dressed up for 4th of July.
Servings: 1 x 8" or 9" fruit tart
Ingredients
For the Pastry Crust
- 1 recipe pâte sucrée (recipe follows in link, below)
For the Pastry Cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 egg
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
To Finish
- 3 pints or so fresh berries such as blueberries and strawberries, rinsed and fully dried
- 1/2 cup apricot jam
Instructions
For the Pastry Crust
- Complete the pâte sucrée through baking and cooling.TIP: This will take a few hours total, though most of that is inactive chilling and baking time. This can be done up to 2 days in advance; store wrapped or in an airtight container.
For the Vanilla Pastry Cream
- Heat the milk with a couple tablespoons of sugar just until boiling. Remove from heat.
- While the milk is warming, in a heat-proof mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining sugar, egg, egg yolks, and cornstarch. Whisk until the mixture is very smooth and lightened in color, about 2 or 3 minutes.
- Whisking constantly, whisk about a quarter of the hot milk into the egg mixture.PRO TIP: This is called tempering. Tempering the eggs helps raise their temperature without cooking them, and helps emulsify them into the milk.
- Pour the milk-tempered egg mixture into the pot of the remaining milk. Whisk to combine. Return the pot to the heat and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent “scrambled eggs” on the sides and bottom, until the magic happens and the pastry cream thickens, about 2 minutes. Stir in the butter and vanilla and cook one minute more, stirring constantly. The pastry cream should make thick, lazy bubbles.
- Pour the thickened pastry cream into a clean, shallow bowl set over an ice bath. Stir gently until the pastry cream cools to warm room temperature and no more steam comes off the top.PRO TIP: setting the bowl on a bag of frozen vegetables works great as an easy ice bath alternative, and there’s no risk of water splashing in.
- Cover the pastry cream with plastic wrap set directly on the surface of the pastry cream. This prevents a skin from forming on top. Chill.
To Finish
- Transfer the tart shell onto a cardboard round or whatever serving dish you will be using. (Once it is filled with the pastry cream and fruit, the tart will be too heavy and delicate to move.)
- Pour the pastry cream into the tart shell, leaving a ¼” brim. (If you have any extra pastry cream, enjoy it as a parfait with some fresh berries.)
- Arrange a generous amount of fruit and berries in a layer over the pastry cream in your desired design.
- Heat ¼ cup apricot jam with 1 tablespoon or so of water over medium heat, whisking, until thin. Strain, if needed, through a sieve. Use a pastry brush to gently dab the entire fruit tart with a thin layer of apricot glaze. Chill until ready to serve.