Tarte aux Fruits French Fruit Tart

This classic Tarte aux Fruits (French Fruit Tart) combines your favorite seasonal fruit, rich pastry cream, and a tender shortcrust for a stunning dessert! The vibrant colors of the assorted fruit are highlighted with a sweet apricot glaze to take both the flavor and appearance to the next level!

French Fruit Tart Recipe

The presentation can be just as important as taste in my opinion. When it comes to good-looking desserts, my Tarte aux Fruits (or French Fruit Tart) is as lovely as it is addictive!

Colorful and fresh fruit adorn this tart, which makes for a delicious ending to any meal. Whenever I present one after dinner, my guests are impressed at the gourmet-level quality. And once they try a slice, they’re sold!

When You Have An Abundance of Fresh Fruit There Is No Other Dessert As Perfect As This Classic Fruit Tart!

Jump to:

• French Fruit Tart Recipe
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥡 Storing & Reheating
• 🥝 More Fruit Desserts
• 📖 Recipe Card
• 💬 Reviews

Despite having the instructions broken down into groupings, this is still a surprisingly easy tart to make! It's also wonderfully versatile so that you can easily include whatever fruit is in season at the moment!

🥘 Ingredients

I’ve shared my recipe for the classic pate sucree (French), pasta frolla (Italian), or sweet shortcrust pastry before, so please follow the step-by-step instructions here to make the crust for this tart. The rest of the ingredients and shortened directions are below.

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Ingredients (pate sucree)

• All-purpose flour – The base of a tender tart.
• Unsalted butter (softened at room temperature) – Adds buttery richness to the tart crust.
• Sugar – Sweetens up the pastry dough which makes it perfect for desserts!
• Egg – For binding and texture.
• Salt – Just a bit to bring out the pastry flavors.
• Vanilla (or almond) extract – Flavor and aroma to complement the crust.

Pastry Cream Ingredients (crème patissiere)

• Milk – Use whole milk, half & half, or a combination of whole milk and heavy cream (¾ cup whole milk + ¼ cup heavy cream) for the creamiest pastry cream ever. 2% milk also works in a pinch.
• Vanilla paste (or vanilla bean caviar or vanilla extract) – Use the best vanilla you can get your hands on for this extraordinary tart! It's a classic French tart that deserves a little bit 'extra'.
• Egg – Creates the creaminess.
• Egg yolk – Additional richness for the ideal creme patisserie.
• Sugar – The perfect amount of sweetness in this rich component.
• All-purpose flour – Adds body to the cream.
• Cornstarch – Thickens the pastry cream up to the perfect texture.

Fruit Topping Ingredients

• Assorted fresh seasonal fruit – I like to use blueberries, blackberries, kiwi, Cuties Mandarin oranges (or canned Mandarin orange segments), raspberries, and strawberries. Mango, peaches, and nectarines can also be used. You can choose whichever types of fruit you love most.
• Apricot preserves (warmed and strained) – Gives the fruit topping a sweet and shiny glaze.

🔪 Instructions

There are a few steps to the process of making this French fruit tart. From the pastry to the toppings, you must take your time to make every step a success. Be sure you have around 2 hours to devote to this recipe. A rushed job won’t be as beautiful as you’ll want your tart to turn out.

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Instructions (pate sucree)

• Make the pastry as per my detailed directions which you can find here. Blind bake for 15 minutes, then remove the weights and bake an additional 10 minutes. Allow the crust to cool well before assembling the rest of the fruit tart.
• This pie crust is super versatile and delicious, and it doesn’t even need to be rolled out! It’s simple and one of my stand-by recipes. It is tender, crumbly, and buttery.
• Timing-wise, once my pastry is made and chilling in the refrigerator, I then make the pastry cream and allow it to cool.

Pastry Cream (crème patissiere)

1. Bring a medium saucepan with 1 cup milk and ½ teaspoon vanilla paste (or vanilla bean caviar or vanilla extract) to medium heat, stirring occasionally until some bubbles appear.
2. As the milk heats, in a large mixing bowl, whisk 1 large egg and 1 additional egg yolk, and 3 tablespoons of sugar together until the mixture is light and frothy.
3. Add 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour and 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch and whisk until nice and smooth.
4. Once the milk is heated, temper the egg mixture by adding about ¼ cup of the heated milk, whisking vigorously. Repeat once more, then add in the remaining milk and vanilla.
5. Transfer the combined mixture back into the medium saucepan and set to medium-low heat. Whisk occasionally. Once the pastry cream thickens, remove from heat, and whisk vigorously until the texture is smooth and creamy.
6. Transfer the pastry cream to a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap, allowing it to settle onto the surface of the pastry cream. Press down on the plastic wrap lightly to adhere it to the entire surface of the pastry cream so a “skin” does not form.
7. Set aside to allow the pastry cream to cool.

Assemble the Tart with Fruit Topping

1. Place your baked tart shell onto a serving plate and fill it with your pastry cream, spreading the cream out to the edges. *I usually make the apricot glaze and brush some onto the tart shell prior to filling the tart shell with pastry creme.
2. Prepare your fruit by cleaning, peeling, de-hulling, and slicing, as necessary. Arrange the fruit in a circular pattern working from the outside in, with the sliced fruit toward the center, where berries can be piled up. You can do any pattern you like, but this classic pattern is always pretty.
3. Warm ⅛ cup apricot preserves (jam or jelly) in a microwave-safe dish for 15-seconds on high power. Strain the preserves through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any chunks (if desired), then brush your fruit with glaze to give the fruit a nice shiny appearance. *See note above (step 1) if you want to glaze the shell itself first too.
4. Chill the assembled fruit tart for at least one hour before slicing and serving so it firms up to hold its shape.

While you can serve your tart with some whipped topping or confectioners’ sugar, it is truly sensational as-is! Enjoy!

🥡 Storing & Reheating

Store leftovers of your Tarte aux Fruits in the refrigerator covered over with plastic wrap or in an airtight container for about 3 days and enjoy them at a later time. Fruit has never been so fantastic!

🥝 More Fruit Desserts

If you love fresh fruit desserts be sure to check out some of my favorites.

• Strawberry Shortcake
• Apple Strawberry Crisp
• Tangulu (Candied Fruit) Recipe
• Cherry Clafoutis
• Strawberry Pineapple Lemonade Bars
• Blackberry Tart

📖 Recipe Card