The red fruit tartlets, mini raspberry tarts, blackberry and blueberry tartlets with a crispy sweet pastry, almond cream, red fruit compote, pastry cream, and fresh red fruits. These tartlets that are so beloved for dessert.
Red fruit tartlets
We love red fruit at home and when it’s in season, the first thing I make is pies. I have a preference for tarts and often make them with various seasonal fruits. Blackberry tarts and raspberry tarts are our favorites after strawberry tart.
I wanted to reproduce Cédric Grolet’s tarts that make us drool on his Instagram account. If you don’t know him, he’s a pastry chef who does remarkable work. Her pastries are as beautiful as they are delicious. I think it was his “pains au chocolat”, croissants and tarts that made him famous the world over.
Raspberry tartlets
As I often tell you, the most important thing in making tarts and tartlets is mastering the sweet pastry dough and lining the tart ring. The filling and decoration are child’s play in comparison. I’ve dedicated an entire special article to sweet pastry dough and lining a large tart ring, and another one on how to make perfect tart shells in two different ways.
Even though my articles are quite long because I want them to be as clear as possible for beginners, preparing a tart is quite simple. Two essential points for perfect tartlets are : not overworking the sweet pastry dough and playing with the coldness of the refrigerator several times.
The sweet pastry dough should not be kneaded to avoid activating the gluten, which would cause the edges of the tart to shrink and collapse within the tart ring. Instead, gently press the dough together two to three times against the work surface to form a ball, and that’s it.
Always work with cold and firm dough to prevent sticking or tearing. As soon as the dough becomes sticky, place it in the refrigerator for a few minutes to firm it up again.
Equipments you need to make pretty tarts like the pros.
What I recommend here is not mandatory, but it will significantly help you achieve beautiful tart shells.
- Stand mixer, to prepare the sweet pastry dough, you can do it by hand in a mixing bowl, or as chef Philippe Conticini suggests, work directly on the countertop.
- Perforated tart ring, very useful, as the dough will adhere well to the sides of the ring, preventing it from collapsing. You will also get a nice pattern on the tart shells. The perforated rings distribute heat well, ensuring that the tart shells bake and brown evenly.
- Silpain air mat, it also distributes heat well and prevents us from having to prick the dough. The tart base does not puff up, and the bottom gets a nice grid pattern from the mat.
- Perforated baking tray, same as silpain mat ; I use both, but you can use at least one.
- Adjustable rolling pin, effective for rolling out dough to the same thickness.
Recipe video
Table of Contents
How to make red fruit tarts?
NB: You’ll find the recipe card with detailed ingredient quantities at the end of the article, which you can print out. Below are the instructions, which you can also view in images.
The day before, start by preparing the sweet pastry
Sweet pastry (pâte sucrée)
Cream the butter and sifted icing sugar. Add the salt, seeds from half a vanilla pod, and almond powder. Mix and scrape the bottom of the bowl.
Add the egg, mix, then add the sifted flour. Mix briefly without kneading or forming a ball.
Turn the dough onto the work surface and use the palm of your hand to “fraser” it, making 2/3 back-and-forth motions to combine everything.
Gather the dough into a ball and divide it into two. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. It’s best to make it the day before for the next day.
The next day or after 2 hours of refrigeration, roll out the dough to 2.5 or 3 mm thickness.
Line the tartlet rings using the lining and baking technique. Freeze for 1 hour before baking.
Pastry cream
In the bottom of a saucepan, sprinkle a little sugar and pour the milk over it. Do not mix. This trick prevents the cream from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. Split the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds with the tip of a knife. Add the seeds and the bean to the saucepan.
Lightly whisk the remaining sugar with the egg yolks, then add the flour and cornstarch. Mix without beating.
Bring the milk to a boil and pour it in twice over the egg and sugar mixture (sabayon) through a sieve.
Mix and transfer to the saucepan. Return to the heat and thicken over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Cook the crème pâtissière until it starts to bubble (bubbles that burst).
Off the heat, add the butter and mix well. Pour into a large dish and cover with plastic wrap, ensuring it touches the surface of the cream. Let it cool in the fridge.
Almond cream
Cream together the soft butter and sugar. Add the almond powder and mix.
Add the eggs a little at a time, mixing without whisking.
You must not whisk to prevent the cream from swelling. Keep refrigerated.
Baking tart shells
Bake at 150°C with fan-assisted oven for approximately 12 to 15 minutes (until lightly golden brown) since they will be baked again with the almond cream.
When out of the oven, place 2 teaspoons of almond cream in each tart shell.
Place a few frozen blueberries in half of the tartlets. Do the same for the raspberry ones, adding some frozen raspberry pieces in each shell.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the cream is cooked but not colored, if you want to egg wash them. Otherwise, let them bake a bit longer until the almond cream lightly browns.
Remove the tart rings and run the back of a sieve over each tart shell to remove any irregularities. Then, use a paper towel to remove any crumbs.
Prepare the egg wash by mixing the egg yolk and the cream. Brush the egg wash onto the sides of the tartlets, passing the brush several times to remove any drips.
Return the tartlets to the oven to achieve a nice golden color, for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
Prepare the red fruit confit
Use a mix of red fruits or just the fruit with which you filled the tartlets. Put the red fruits in a saucepan with the sugar and mix.
Bring to a medium heat, stirring well. Let it reduce to a thick jam-like consistency.
Finishing the tartlets
Spread a thin layer of fruit confit over the almond cream in each tartlet and let it cool completely.
Whisk the pastry cream until smooth. You can use an immersion blender.
Transfer the pastry cream to a piping bag or spread it directly with a spoon. Pipe a small amount of pastry cream over the confit and spread it evenly.
Decorate with the red fruits with which the tartlets are filled. Dust with icing sugar but this is optional.
Red Berry Fruit tarts
Ingredients :
Sweet pastry (pâte sucré)
- 250 g all-purpose flour (8.8 oz)
- 150 g very soft butter (5.3 oz)
- 95 g icing sugar (3.3 oz)
- 35 g almond powder (1.2 oz)
- 50 g eggs (1.76 oz)
- 1 g salt 1/3 teaspoon
- 1 vanilla bean or vanilla powder
Pastry cream
- 250 ml milk
- 60 g sugar (2 oz)
- 50 g egg yolks (1.76 oz)
- 15 g flour (0.5 oz)
- 15 g cornstarch (0.5 oz)
- 25 g butter (0.88 oz)
- 1 vanilla bean
Almond cream
- 50 g softened butter (1.76 oz)
- 50 g sugar (1.76 oz)
- 50 g almond powder (1.76 oz)
- 50 g eggs (1.76 oz)
Egg wash
- 1 egg yolk 20 g (0.7 oz)
- 2 teaspoons heavy cream 5 g (0.2 oz)
Red fruit confit
- 165 g mixed red fruits chopped into small pieces (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries) (5.8 oz )
- 25 g to 40 g sugar depending on the acidity of the fruit (0.9 to 1.4 oz )
Instructions :
Sweet pastry (pâte sucrée)
- The day before, start by preparing the sweet pastry
- Cream the butter and sifted icing sugar. Add the salt, seeds from half a vanilla pod, and almond powder. Mix and scrape the bottom of the bowl.
- Add the egg, mix, then add the sifted flour. Mix briefly without kneading or forming a ball.
- Turn the dough onto the work surface and use the palm of your hand to "fraser" it, making 2/3 back-and-forth motions to combine everything.
- Gather the dough into a ball and divide it into two. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. It's best to make it the day before for the next day.
- The next day or after 2 hours of refrigeration, roll out the dough to 2.5 or 3 mm thickness.
- Line the tartlet rings using the lining and baking technique. Freeze for 1 hour before baking.
Pastry cream
- In the bottom of a saucepan, sprinkle a little sugar and pour the milk over it. Do not mix. This trick prevents the cream from sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. Split the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds with the tip of a knife. Add the seeds and the bean to the saucepan.
- Lightly whisk the remaining sugar with the egg yolks, then add the flour and cornstarch. Mix without beating.
- Bring the milk to a boil and pour it in twice over the egg and sugar mixture (sabayon) through a sieve.
- Mix and transfer to the saucepan. Return to the heat and thicken over medium heat, stirring constantly.
- Cook the crème pâtissière until it starts to bubble (bubbles that burst).
- Off the heat, add the butter and mix well. Pour into a large dish and cover with plastic wrap, ensuring it touches the surface of the cream. Let it cool in the fridge.
Almond cream
- Cream together the soft butter and sugar. Add the almond powder and mix.
- Add the eggs a little at a time, mixing without whisking.
- You must not whisk to prevent the cream from swelling. Keep refrigerated.
Baking tart shells
- Bake at 150°C with fan-assisted oven for approximately 12 to 15 minutes (until lightly golden brown) since they will be baked again with the almond cream.
- When out of the oven, place 2 teaspoons of almond cream in each tart shell.
- Place a few frozen blueberries in half of the tartlets. Do the same for the raspberry ones, adding some frozen raspberry pieces in each shell.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until the cream is cooked but not colored, if you want to egg wash them. Otherwise, let them bake a bit longer until the almond cream lightly browns.
- Remove the tart rings and run the back of a sieve over each tart shell to remove any irregularities. Then, use a paper towel to remove any crumbs.
- Prepare the egg wash by mixing the egg yolk and the cream. Brush the egg wash onto the sides of the tartlets, passing the brush several times to remove any drips.
- Return the tartlets to the oven to achieve a nice golden color, for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.
Prepare the red fruit confit
- Use a mix of red fruits or just the fruit with which you filled the tartlets. Put the red fruits in a saucepan with the sugar and mix.
- Bring to a medium heat, stirring well. Let it reduce to a thick jam-like consistency.
Finishing the tartlets
- Spread a thin layer of fruit confit over the almond cream in each tartlet and let it cool completely.
- Whisk the pastry cream until smooth. You can use an immersion blender.
- Transfer the pastry cream to a piping bag or spread it directly with a spoon. Pipe a small amount of pastry cream over the confit and spread it evenly.
- Decorate with the red fruits with which the tartlets are filled. Dust with icing sugar but this is optional.
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Tart, Patisserie, Easy recipe, Snacks, Cakes, Raspberry, Blackberries,Blueberries