Summer Harvest Tart Recipes

BEAUTIFUL SUMMER FRUIT TART

Steps:

• Mix water and vanilla extract together in a small bowl.
• Stir 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, sugar, and salt together in a medium bowl. Cut in butter until mixture forms fine crumbs. Do not overmix, or pastry will be tough. Stir in enough vanilla water to pull dough together. Chill for 15 minutes.
• Roll dough out into a 12-inch circle. Gently transfer to an 11-inch tart pan. Pat dough into place, cutting off edges and aligning pastry along the edges of the pan. Freeze pastry shell until firm, at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Bake pastry shell in the preheated oven until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Prick any large bubbles with the tip of a knife. Allow to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, make the filling. Beat cream in a chilled glass or metal bowl with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Beat sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla extract in a separate bowl until smooth. Fold in whipped cream.
• Spread filling into the cooled tart shell, smoothing out to reach the edges. Arrange mandarin oranges, strawberries, kiwi slices, and berries over the top, covering as much of the filling as possible. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator.

SUMMER FRUIT TART

Steps:

• For crust, beat butter until smooth. Add icing sugar and lemon zest and cream together. Stir in egg yolks, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. Sift pastry flour and salt into butter mixture and stir just until dough comes together (turn out onto a board and bring together with your hands, if needed). Shape dough into a disc and chill for at least 1 hour.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle a 9-inch fluted tart pan (with 1 ½ inch sides) with a removable bottom with a little flour and line with pastry. Trim edges and press pastry up, so it stands about ¼ inch higher than the sides of the pan. Dock pastry with a fork and chill 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 °F. Bake pastry shell for 18 to 20 minutes, until edges are a light golden brown and center appears dry. Allow to cool.
• For filling, whisk together 1/3 cup raspberry purée, lemon juice, eggs, yolks, and sugar. Whisk in butter and add lemon zest. Place bowl over a pot of simmering water and whisk steadily, but gently, until curd becomes thick and pale and creamy, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Stir in remaining 1/3 cup raspberry purée and pour into cooled pastry shell.
• For fruit, slice peaches or nectarines and apricots and toss in lemon juice to prevent discolouration. Slice strawberries in half. Arrange fruit on chilled tart up to 2 hours before serving and chill until ready to serve.

RUSTIC HARVEST FRUIT TART

Steps:

• The morning before you want to make the tart, remember to put the butter in the freezer - try wrapping it in foil first (it will keep it colder when you hold it to grate later).
• To make the pastry, mix the flour in a big bowl with a good pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of the sugar. Using a coarse cheese grater, grate in the butter, trying to hold it as little as possible so that it doesn't warm up too much, and stirring it in with a cutlery knife as you go. When all the butter is in, give it a final good stir with the knife to make sure all strands of butter are coated in the flour, then quickly stir in 150-175ml of very cold water. Lightly bring the pastry together with your hands, wrap in cling film and chill for 30 mins.
• Layer all the fruit in another bowl, sprinkling over the sugar and cornflour as you go. Add the orange zest and give everything a light mix. Set aside until your pastry is ready.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 with a baking sheet in it. Lightly dust another baking sheet with flour and roll out the pastry onto it in a rough circle until the pastry is about 0.5cm thick. If you want, use a small, sharp knife to cut a pattern around the edge of the pastry.
• Give the fruit another mix, then pile into the middle of the pastry, leaving a 7cm border of clear pastry all around the edge. Fold the pastry border up and over the fruit filling, pinching bits together to keep it neat and in place. Whisk the egg white until very frothy. Using a pastry brush, brush the froth all over the pastry. Dredge over the remaining granulated sugar, and sprinkle a little more over the fruit. Lift onto the heated sheet and bake for 35 mins until the pastry is golden brown and crispy. Serve straight from the oven with lashings of custard or, if you're feeling really wicked, some Cornish clotted cream.

CARAMELIZED SUMMER FRUIT TART

Steps:

• Put a rack in the center of the oven and heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicone liner or parchment paper. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons Demerara sugar in an approximate 10-by-13-inch rectangle in the center of the liner or paper.
• In a large mixing bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add fruit, lemon juice, honey and vanilla. With a rubber spatula or large spoon, mix well, making sure fruit is coated with the cornstarch mixture. Set aside to macerate while rolling out dough.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll the cold puff pastry out to form a 10-by-13-inch rectangle. Work quickly, as the pastry becomes sticky as it warms up. Transfer the dough to prepared baking sheet, laying it on top of the Demerara sugar. With a sharp knife, lightly score a 3/4-inch border around the edges of the puff pastry, making sure not to cut the pastry all the way through. Using a fork, prick the pastry all over inside the border at 1-inch intervals.
• Give the fruit another toss to dissolve any honey that may have clumped. Arrange fruit mixture in an even layer on pastry within the border, pouring the juices from the bowl over the top. Sprinkle the top of the tart, including the fruit and pastry borders, with more Demerara sugar.
• Bake until the pastry is puffed and deeply golden and the fruit is tender, about 30 to 40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire tack to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving (or up to 4 hours). If the fruit looks dry when the tart comes out of the oven, you can brush it with a little more honey while it's still warm. Serve with whipped cream, crème fraîche or ice cream.

BUCKWHEAT HARVEST TART

Steps:

• To make the crust, in a food processor, add both flours and the salt and pulse to combine. Add the butter and thyme and pulse until pea-size chunks form. Keep pulsing while adding the vinegar and then the cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stopping when the dough just barely holds together. Form the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 13-inch circle. It should be about 1/4 inch thick. Roll the dough around the rolling pin and lift it into an 11-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough into the edges and up the sides, making sure to patch up any holes. Gently roll your rolling pin across the top of the tart pan to remove the extra dough and create a clean edge. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork, lay a piece of parchment paper on top, and fill the tart shell with pie weights (I use rocks from the yard-classy, I know). Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights and bake until the top looks almost dry, another 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
• While the crust is cooling, prepare the filling. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the squash with 1/2 tablespoon of the olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and the nutmeg. Spread in an even layer and bake until the squash begins to brown around the edges, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
• In a large sauté pan over medium heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the garlic. When the garlic starts to sizzle a bit and becomes fragrant, add the Swiss chard, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt. Sauté until the chard is wilted, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and set aside.
• Peel and halve the onion and thinly slice. In the same pan you used for the chard, heat the remaining 1/2 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and stir every so often until caramelized, about 20 minutes. When the onions are a nice light brown color, add the balsamic vinegar, stir, and turn off the heat. The onions will absorb the vinegar as they cool a bit.
• Squeeze out any excess water from the Swiss chard and return to the bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs until blended well, then add to the chard. To the bowl with the chard, add three-fourths of the squash, half of the cheese, the onion, and a few grinds of black pepper. Gently mix everything together and pour into the tart pan. Spread into an even layer. Scatter the remaining squash and cheese across the top. Bake in the oven until the egg is just set and the top is browned, 24 to 28 minutes. Remove the tart from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting into slices and serving.

HARVEST TART

Steps:

• Make filling:
• Peel, core, and chop coarse apple and pear. In a large heavy saucepan combine dried and fresh fruits with water to cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 15 minutes. Drain fruit in a sieve, discarding liquid, and chop coarse. Return fruit to pan and add remaining filling ingredients. Simmer filling, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes, or until thickened. Transfer filling to a heat-proof bowl and cool.
• On a lightly floured surface roll out about two thirds dough into a 12-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick) and fit into a 10-inch tart or pie pan with a removable fluted rim. Chill shell 30 minutes. Gather dough scraps together with remaining dough and on a lightly floured surface roll out into a 10-inch round (about 1/8 inch thick). Cut round into 1/2-inch-wide strips and chill on a baking sheet 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Spread filling in shell, smoothing top, and weave dough strips in a lattice pattern over pie, trimming lattice edges flush with rim of pan and brushing dough lightly with egg wash. Bake tart in middle of oven 40 minutes, or until crust is pale golden. Cool tart in pan on a rack 15 minutes and remove side of pan.
• Serve tart at room temperature with ice cream or whipped cream.