Gorgeous mini fruit tarts – step by step tutorial

I have no doubt in saying that my favourite dessert is a fruit tart. A fresh, silky and lemony creme patissiere paired with colourful fresh fruit all held together by a shell of crunchy and crumbly pastry. Make lots of them and you have a feast to the eyes too, pure happiness that is.

Whenever I go to a pastry shop and I see these little jewels I can never leave the shop empty handed.

Fancy making them? It is not as difficult as you think, in fact they are quite straightforward and you can be very creative in arranging the fruit on top!

Also check out these strawberry mini tarts I made over the summer.

• Prep Time : 60 minutes
• Cook Time : 30 minutes

Ingredients

• flour – 200 g
• butter – 100 g
• the zest of one lemon
• sugar – 100 g
• eggs – 2
• For the custard:
• milk – 500 ml
• flour – 30 g
• the zest of one lemon
• sugar – 130 g
• a drop of rum or brandy
• egg yolks – 5
• kiwi fruit, black and white grapes, pineapple, strawberries, raspberries
• icing sugar
• jam – 1 large tbsp

Instructions

Put the flour on your working top, make a hole in the middle, add the eggs, sugar, lemon zest and butter and mix the ingredients with a fork.

Quickly with your hands make a smooth ball, wrap it up in cling film and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes

Flatten the pastry with a rolling pin. Help yourself with a little flour if it feels sticky. With a round pastry cutter cut out some circles and put them on your greased mold for tartlets or muffins. Pierce the pastry at the bottom with a fork

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 180C. They should look slightly golden.

Wash and dry the lemon then with a knife trim the zest. Pour the milk in a pan and bring to the boil with the lemon zest. Then switch off and remove the lemon zest

Whip the yolks with the sugar until pale and creamy. Then add the flour and stir well

Pour the hot milk over the egg mixture whilst stirring all the time. Pour the mixture in the pan and bring the boil.

Stir all the time over a gentle heat until the sauce has thickened. Add a drop of liquor like rum or cognac in the last couple of minutes of cooking if you like

Wash and slice the fruit finely. With a piping bag or with a teaspoon put the cooled down custard on the pastry shells.

And now let’s be creative: decorate the tarts with the fruit

To finish them off put a large tablespoon of apricot or strawberry jam and a tbsp of water in a pan and let it bubble away for a few minutes. With a spatula brush the fruit with the jam and finish with a light dusting of icing sugar.

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