Martha Stewart Fruit Tart Food

PUFF PASTRY TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Unfold each sheet of puff pastry onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and cut each into 4 squares. With a paring knife, lightly score a border 3/4 inch from edges. Brush border with egg and sprinkle with sugar. Freeze 10 minutes. Bake until puffed and golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool. Gently press center to flatten.
• Meanwhile, combine fruit, sugar, citrus juice, and salt. Let stand 10 minutes. Fill shells with cream and top with fruit mixture. Serve immediately.

FRENCH FRUIT TART

Steps:

• Crust: Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter; pulse until pea-size lumps remain. Stir together yolks and 2 tablespoons ice-cold water; drizzle over flour mixture, pulsing just until dough holds together when pressed between your fingers. (If still too dry and crumbly, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time.) Form into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic; chill until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day, or freeze up to 1 month.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to an approximately 12-inch round. Transfer to a 9-inch round fluted tart pan, gently pressing dough into edges. Run a rolling pin over top of pan to remove excess dough (patch any tears with dough scraps, if necessary). Line dough with parchment and fill with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice.
• Bake until crust is dry, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove weights and parchment; return to oven and bake until golden and crisp, about 15 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely. Brush bottom and sides evenly with chocolate; refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes.
• Custard: Meanwhile, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Add milk and egg yolks; whisk until smooth. Add butter; cook over medium heat, whisking occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil. Continue to cook, whisking, until mixture has the texture of thick pudding, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in vanilla. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl; cover surface with plastic wrap. Let cool completely. Whisk in sour cream until combined; transfer to crust and refrigerate until custard is set, at least 1 hour or, loosely covered, up to 1 day.
• Topping: In a small saucepan or a microwave, warm apricot jam with 2 teaspoons water just until melted (if jam is chunky, strain through a sieve). Drizzle over berries; gently stir to evenly coat. Spoon mixture over custard; serve.

STRAWBERRY TART

Steps:

• Make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, blend flour, butter, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt until moist crumbs form (this may take up to 1 minute). Transfer dough to a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom.
• With floured fingers, press dough evenly into pan and up sides. Dip a dry-measuring cup in flour, and use it to press dough firmly into bottom and against sides of pan. Freeze crust until firm, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Using a fork, prick crust all over. Bake until golden, 25 to 30 minutes, pressing down gently once or twice with a spoon during baking if crust puffs up. Cool completely in pan.
• Make the filling: In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until smooth; spread mixture evenly in bottom of baked crust (still in tart pan).
• Starting from outside edge, arrange strawberry halves, stemmed side down, in tight concentric circles on cream cheese.
• In a small saucepan, heat jelly on medium-low until liquefied. Gently brush strawberries with jelly; let set at least 20 minutes. Chill in pan at least 1 hour (and up to 6 hours); remove from pan just before serving.

STAR TART

Steps:

• Fill the tart shell with pastry cream.
• Gently press a medium to large star-shaped cookie cutter into the center of the tart to make a slight imprint in the pastry cream for the star pattern; remove the cookie cutter.
• For the blueberry star: Arrange blueberries in the center of the star outline. Fill the spaces surrounding the star with upside-down raspberries, creating a circular center. Arrange 2 to 3 layers of strawberries in a circular pattern around the perimeter of the raspberries to finish.
• For the strawberry star: Select similarly sized strawberry slices for the tips of the star. Starting at the tip of one point, layer strawberries inward towards the center. Repeat with remaining 4 tips. Fill in the spaces surrounding the star with stem-side-up blueberries, creating a circular border. Place upside-down raspberries around blueberry perimeter to fill in the remainder of the tart.
• Chill until ready to serve, at least 30 minutes and up to 8 hours.