One of the first things we were taught to make in baking school was tarts. Fruit tarts, lemon tarts, frangipane tarts. I wasn’t mad about it at all! I love pie dough, sweet or savory. Turn a pie into tarts, and you’ve just upped your baking game! There’s just something about tiny things, in comparison to their larger parent, that makes them even more delicious. These custard and berry tarts are a perfect example.

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I’ve been making these tarts for ever. A few years ago I started adding meringues and macarons to them. In the same fashion, last year for my niece’s 12th birthday, I used the same dough and filling to make her a cookie number cake. I don’t want to brag…but it was a thing of beauty!

For the purpose of this exercise, I’ll send you to buy the latter, if you choose to add them. If not, you can simply add more fruit. I will eventually share my meringue and macaron recipes on the blog.

Sweet Pie Crust

Now, for the crust. To make these, I always use a sweet crust rather than a regular one. This dough has more of a cookie texture than a flaky pie crust. As a result, it holds the filling much better. Unlike traditional crust, you need your butter to be room mailable. In school, we used to take the cold butter and knead it by hand lol! You can just leave it out at room temperature.

You’ll need to cream the butter and icing sugar together before adding the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Lastly adding the flour. This is a softer dough, mix only until all the flour disappears. As with other doughs, you’ll need to refrigerate before baking.

Next, you will blind bake the tart shells and completely cool them. This step can be done in advance. You may even freeze the tart shells you do not use.

Roll out your dough (you may need to leave it out at room temperature to be able to do this) to approximately 1/2 cm in thickness. I use these tart shells. Press your dough into the shells and use a fork to poke holes at the bottom. Bake at 350*F for about 20-25 min, until golden brown. Important to note, these will NOT be baked again, so ensure they are properly cooked.

The Custard

Custard is very easy to make. The addition of cornstarch makes it thicker to use for fillings. Without it, you’d get more of a “creme anglaise”. You can easily double or triple this recipe to have extra custard.

You’ll want to pour your milk and half the sugar into a pot. Set it on the stove at medium heat. In a bowl, you’ll mix the remaining sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch. Now whisk as hard as you can! Once the milk starts to steam, you’ll want to temper your eggs. Scoop a ladle of milk into your egg mixture and quickly whisk. Once the remaining milk comes to a boil, all while mixing, slowly pour it into the egg mixture.

At this point, if you have a sifter, I would strain the mixture back into the pot. This would remove any egg chunks. Return the pot to low-medium heat and continue to whisk until the mixture thickens. Lastly add the butter, vanilla, and mix once more. Pour into a clean bowl or Tupperware and refrigerate immediately. The larger the container, the faster it will cool.

Tart Assembly

There are two different ways you can fill your tarts. You can either simply add custard to the shells. Or, you can whip up some whipping cream and fold it into the custard. I use a ratio of one part whipped cream and two parts custard. In short, this will give it a lighter texture. I use a piping bag to fill my tarts. If you do not have one, you can simply use a spoon. From there, simply arrange your fruits atop, and if you have, macaroons and meringues. Aren’t they beautiful?