Apr 27 2009
Summer Fruit Tart
I made this tart specifically for a photo op. You see, every year my family has a Jamaica Party in which we all get together to have a good time and recreate experiences we’ve had on our vacations in Jamaica.
It all began when my brother and sister-in-law got married in Jamaica. We had a fabulous time (it was a week filled with good food, tropical drinks, and a special event – what more could you want?), and our families decided to get together six months later to recreate the experience.
One of our favorite desserts in Jamaica were the tartelettes, and I was given the task of making them for the first party. Since then, I’ve experimented with tartelettes, full-size tarts, whole wheat crusts, regular crusts, and pastry creams. (Amazingly, the crust with all whole wheat pastry flour is the favorite, but the dough is a bit difficult to work with). I ended up creating my own recipes for the crust and pastry cream, based on experimentation and what I thought ultimately tasted the best, yet wasn’t a complete pain to work with.
Last summer, I opted to make a full-size tart so I could have a little more creative leeway with when it came to arranging fruit. So I made the tart, carefully packed everything on ice (it was the middle of summer), and drove two hours to my parents for the party.
The tart didn’t survive the trip.
It looked like fruit soup in a shell. I was on the verge of tears and wanted to throw it away, but my mom wouldn’t let me. The tart may not have looked like a tart, but it would still taste delicious, so I just mixed everything up into a sort of tart-trifle. But I was still frustrated and on the verge of tears; I spent a lot of time on that tart, both with making several stops that morning to get the fruit I wanted, the planning of the arrangement and the packing, and the actual packing of the tart. And I admit, I wanted to hear someone say it looked nice. Shallow, I know, but there you have it.
Determined that everyone would know what the dessert looked like when it was still in my kitchen, I made another tart the following weekend, took pictures, and then promptly served the tart to a friend. I dug out the tart pictures from last summer because I figured this was the perfect time to put the recipe out there; we’re gearing up for summer and a bounty of fresh fruit, and to this day, I think tarts are one of the best ways to showcase summer berries in dessert form. And when summer is over, you can simply switch to apples and pears for autumn and winter tarts.
