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Susan Jung

These pretty fruit tarts would make a lovely dessert for Mother's Day (you haven't forgotten it's today, have you?) or any other spring meal.
Strawberry-blueberry tart with pastry cream
This dough recipe makes enough for three tarts (20cm to 23cm in diameter). Leftover dough can be frozen, tightly wrapped, for up to six months.
The pastry cream recipe is based on one in Mastering the Art of French Pastry by Bruce Healy and Paul Bugat.
For the pastry cream:
1 vanilla bean
500ml cream
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
125 grams sugar
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
35 grams plain flour
35 grams cornstarch
70 grams unsalted butter
For the dough:
400 grams plain flour
100 grams sugar
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
250 grams chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1cm chunks
2 large egg yolks
About 80ml chilled cream
For the topping:
1 punnet fresh strawberries
1/2 punnet fresh blueberries
Make the pastry cream: split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Place the bean and seeds with the milk in a 2 litre saucepan. Bring to the simmer over a medium flame. Whisk the eggs and yolks until smooth with the sugar, salt, flour and cornstarch. Pour about 100ml of the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk until smooth. Add another 100ml of milk and whisk until smooth. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan, whisking constantly. Turn the flame to low and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, for three to five minutes, or until it's thick and no longer tastes of raw flour. Remove from the heat and use a spatula to force the pastry cream through a fine sieve into a bowl. Place the butter on top of the mixture and let it melt then whisk to incorporate it. Cool the pastry cream at room temperature, whisking it occasionally. Press cling-film directly onto its surface and refrigerate. This can be made several days in advance.
Make the dough: put the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and process to combine. Add the chunks of butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Transfer the ingredients to a large bowl. Whisk the egg yolks with 80ml of cream and drizzle this over the flour/sugar/butter mixture. Use your fingers to combine the ingredients. Drizzle in more cream if the mixture seems dry - it should be a cohesive mass that is neither sticky nor dry. Knead the dough briefly and divide into three equal portions. Shape each piece into a flat disc, wrap in cling-film and refrigerate for an hour (freeze the other portions, if desired).
Roll out one of the discs on a floured work surface, sprinkling it with more flour as necessary to prevent the dough from sticking. Roll the dough to a large circle about 3mm thick. Carefully place the dough over a 20cm or 23cm tart pan with a removable bottom. Settle the dough into the edges of the pan without stretching it. Fold the excess dough into the sides of the tart pan and press firmly so the dough at the edges is slightly thicker than at the bottom of the tart. Trim the excess dough hanging over the sides. Chill the tart shell for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Use the tines of a fork to poke holes in the bottom of the tart (this lets steam escape so the bottom remains flat). Place the tart shell in the oven, reduce the heat to 180 degrees and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the shell is golden brown and starting to pull away slightly from the sides of the pan. If the dough puffs up on the bottom, poke it with a paring knife and use paper towels to press it gently to deflate it. Cool to room temperature.
Wash the berries and pat them dry with paper towels. Spread some of the pastry cream evenly over the bottom of the tart shell to a depth of about 8mm. Slice the strawberries about 5mm thick and lay them in concentric circles, starting at the perimeter and working in. Pile the blueberries in the centre of the tart.
Apricot and almond tart
This pastry cream is also based on a recipe in Mastering the Art of French Pastry. Leftovers can be frozen.
For the almond pastry cream:
110 grams unsalted butter, slightly softened
125 grams ground almonds
125 grams icing sugar
20 grams granulated sugar
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
170 grams pastry cream, from the first recipe
35 grams cornstarch
20ml dark rum
For the tart:
1 tart shell, from the first recipe, baked till pale golden
12-16 ripe but firm fresh apricots
A little sugar, for sprinkling
About 45 grams apricot jam
Place the ground almonds, icing sugar, granulated sugar and salt in a food processor and process to mix. Add the butter and process until combined. Mix in the egg and yolk, then pulse in the pastry cream, cornstarch and rum. Transfer to a bowl and stir with a spatula to thoroughly combine the ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Spread some of the almond pastry cream in the tart shell to the depth of about 8mm. Halve the apricots and remove the pits, then cut each half into two wedges. Lay the wedges, cut side-up, in concentric circles over the almond cream, starting from the perimeter and working in. Sprinkle sugar lightly over the apricots. Bake at 200 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until the apricots start to soften slightly and char lightly at the tips. Cool for 10 minutes. Heat the apricot jam with about 15ml of water and brush over the fruit. Serve warm or cool.
Styling: Vivian Herijanto


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Recipes for special occasions

Two Susan Jung recipes for Mother's Day fruit tarts

Strawberry-blueberry tart with pastry cream

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Food & Drink

Spring into action this Mother's Day with fruit-based desserts, suggests Susan Jung. 


Two Susan Jung recipes for Mother's Day fruit tarts

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Spring into action this Mother's Day with fruit-based desserts, suggests Susan Jung.

Spring into action this Mother's Day with fruit-based desserts, suggests Susan Jung.