French glazed fruit tart recipe

This French glazed fruit tart is so bright, fresh, and colorful! This recipe is perfect for any season and occasion

This French glazed fruit tart is without a doubt my favorite dessert. A buttery shortbread crust, flavorful and silky lemon pastry cream filling, and lots of bright fresh fruit make it taste like heaven. It’s as beautiful as it’s delicious!

This awesome dessert is always a crowd-pleaser and it’s sure to impress your family and friends.

French glazed fruit tart is like a picture drawn with colorful strawberries, bananas, kiwi and other fruits. While this recipe may look complicated, don’t think that it requires any special baking experience to make it. Not at all – this impressive dessert is very easy to put together.

It has 4 delicious components:

• sweet pastry crust.  You can prepare the shortbread dough the day before and keep it in the refrigerator until the next day (wrapped in plastic film)
• deliciously refreshing lemon pastry cream or custard. Lemon zest is fantastic in this recipe. But feel free to change the cream to your own taste: instead of lemon, add vanilla, a pinch of cinnamon, or a few drops of your favorite liqueur
• colorful fresh fruit (any of your choice)
• shiny glaze (it will give a nice shiny look, protect the fruit from drying out, preserve its colors, and keep it moist)

Useful tip: if you want to save time, bake the sweet pastry shell in advance and store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. You can do the same with lemon custard.

What fruits are the best for this glazed fruit tart

When it comes to the fruit, be as creative as you want. Any kind of fruit and berries is great for this recipe:

• fresh seasonal berries (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, cherries, strawberries…)
• peaches
• apricots
• mango
• plums
• pineapple
• grapes
• kiwi
• bananas

Avoid decorating the glazed fruit tart with melon and orange slices. These fruits are too juicy and will spoil the texture of the cream in a short period of time. Also, avoid apples – they are too crunchy and dry for this recipe.

Clear fruit glaze for a French fruit tart

Glaze is a very important ingredient in this recipe. It will preserve the freshness and color of the fruit and will make this dessert really gorgeous.

There are three glaze options for this glazed fruit tart:

1. You can use a store-bought clear fruit glaze and prepare it according to the instructions on the package.
2. Make an apricot jam glaze.  It’s very simple: combine ½ cup of apricot jam or preserves and 1 tablespoon of water. Heat over medium-high heat until the mixture is liquefied. Next, strain it through a fine strainer to discard any pulp and let it cool.
3. Make a homemade fruit glaze: combine 100 ml (1/4 cup + 4Tbsp)  water and 45g (3Tbsp + 2tsp) white granulated sugar. Heat over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Dissolve 1tsp starch (potato or corn) in 50 ml (3 ½ Tbsp) water and add it to the pan with water and sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add ¼ tsp lemon juice, stir, and let it cool slightly. The glaze is ready.

Use a pastry brush to glaze the tart. Do it very gently in order not to ruin the fruit ornament. If you don’t have a brush, you can use a spoon to pour the glaze over the cake.

Useful tips

Here are some secrets for the perfect French glazed fruit tart:

• Leave the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before rolling it out. You can also prepare the dough the day before and store it in the fridge (wrapped in cling film).
• Don’t overcook the shortbread pastry shell. It should be browned only at the edges.
• Cool the pastry crust completely before filling it with lemon cream.
• Bake the crust, let it cool completely, then brush the inside with 100g (4oz) of melted dark chocolate. This “chocolate barrier” will keepthe tart crust from getting soggy.
• Keep the cake in the fridge and remove it 10 minutes before serving. Thanks to this, the texture of the cream will become more delicate.

Avoid covering the glazed fruit tart with plastic wrap before putting it in the refrigerator. The plastic wrap will stick to the top and will spoil the entire ornament. It’s better to cover the dessert with a cake pan lid before storing it in the fridge. You can also use a large bowl to create a kind of “dome”.

Ingredients

If you are a happy digital kitchen scale owner, I highly recommend using it instead of cups and spoons. Especially when it comes to baking recipes. A scale gives you far more accurate results than volume measurements (everyone scoops ingredients differently). Trust me, using a kitchen scale to measure ingredients will take your baking to a new level.

My tart pan is 28cm in diameter

(Shortcrust pastry Dough):

• 300g (1 ¾ cups + 4Tbsp) flour
• 2 eggs
• 100 g (¼ cup + 3Tbsp) sugar
• 100g (¼ cup + 3 Tbsp) butter (cold from the fridge)
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• ½ tsp baking powder

(Lemon pastry cream):

• 500ml (2 cups +1 Tbsp) milk
• 4 yolks
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 120g (½ cup + 1 Tbsp) sugar
• 25g (2 ½ Tbsp) flour
• 25g (3 ½ Tbsp) cornstarch (potato starch is also suitable)
• Vanilla

(For decoration):

• your favorite berries or fruit
• clear fruit glaze

Glazed fruit tart recipe

Prepare the dough: mix the flour, sugar, grated lemon zest, baking powder, and butter (you can do it by hand or use a stand mixer)

Mix until it resembles coarse crumbs

Add the eggs and make the dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge

Remove the dough from the fridge, roll it out thinly, place it in a tart pan (greased with butter and sprinkled with flour), and press the crust into the sides. Poke holes in the bottom of the pastry shell using a fork.

Cover the dough with baking parchment. Place dried beans, baking beads, or pie weights on the paper (to create a press), and bake for 20 minutes at 180°C (350F)

Then remove the beans and baking parchment and bake the tart base for another 20-25 minutes (180°C/350F) until golden brown. Remove it from the oven and let it cool completely

Prepare the lemon pastry cream: whisk together the egg yolks, lemon zest, flour, starch, vanilla, and sugar

Add the milk and cook over medium heat (stirring constantly) until thickened

Let the finished custard cool completely (stir it from time to time so that a crust does not form on the surface when it cools). Then fill the baked tart base with the pastry cream.  

Decorate the cake with your favorite fruits or berries. Prepare the fruit glaze and brush it over the top of the fruit to make it shiny. Leave the glazed fruit tart in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

FAQ

If you like fruit desserts, try our Italian fruit salad and strawberry pie. They are fabulous!

Enjoy this French glazed fruit tart at any time of the year. Top it with your favorite fruit and surprise your family and friends. Happy baking!

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