Hearty Tarty Fruit Blend Recipes

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the flour, cornmeal and lemon juice to form a dough. Press onto bottom and up the sides of a greased 9-in. tart pan with removable bottom. Bake at 425° for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack., For filling, beat the cream cheese, sugar and milk until smooth. Spread over cooled crust. Arrange berries or fruit over filling. Refrigerate while preparing glaze., For fruit glaze, in a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, apricot nectar and lemon juice until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened. Cool; brush over fruit. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Refrigerate leftovers.

Steps:

• For the crust: In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the salt, egg and cream; beat until incorporated. Add the flour and beat until a dough comes together. Form the dough into a disc and then press it evenly into the bottom and up the sides of a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom; if necessary, use a piece of plastic wrap to help keep the dough from sticking. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour, or freeze for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line the tart crust with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until the edges of the crust look set and just barely golden, about 15 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and pie weights, and continue to bake until the crust is golden brown all over, about 20 minutes more. Cool completely.
• For the filling: In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla, and beat with an electric mixer until soft and very creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the cream and continue beating until the mixture holds stiff peaks, stopping occasionally to scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula, 2 to 3 minutes more.
• Spoon the cream cheese mixture into the cooled tart shell and smooth with an offset spatula. Top with the berries.
• Combine the apricot preserves and a splash of water in a small bowl and microwave until warm, about 45 seconds. Strain through a sieve into another bowl. Gently brush or spoon the apricot glaze over the berries.
• Serve the tart immediately, or refrigerate for up to 3 hours.

Steps:

• The morning before you want to make the tart, remember to put the butter in the freezer - try wrapping it in foil first (it will keep it colder when you hold it to grate later).
• To make the pastry, mix the flour in a big bowl with a good pinch of salt and 2 tbsp of the sugar. Using a coarse cheese grater, grate in the butter, trying to hold it as little as possible so that it doesn't warm up too much, and stirring it in with a cutlery knife as you go. When all the butter is in, give it a final good stir with the knife to make sure all strands of butter are coated in the flour, then quickly stir in 150-175ml of very cold water. Lightly bring the pastry together with your hands, wrap in cling film and chill for 30 mins.
• Layer all the fruit in another bowl, sprinkling over the sugar and cornflour as you go. Add the orange zest and give everything a light mix. Set aside until your pastry is ready.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 with a baking sheet in it. Lightly dust another baking sheet with flour and roll out the pastry onto it in a rough circle until the pastry is about 0.5cm thick. If you want, use a small, sharp knife to cut a pattern around the edge of the pastry.
• Give the fruit another mix, then pile into the middle of the pastry, leaving a 7cm border of clear pastry all around the edge. Fold the pastry border up and over the fruit filling, pinching bits together to keep it neat and in place. Whisk the egg white until very frothy. Using a pastry brush, brush the froth all over the pastry. Dredge over the remaining granulated sugar, and sprinkle a little more over the fruit. Lift onto the heated sheet and bake for 35 mins until the pastry is golden brown and crispy. Serve straight from the oven with lashings of custard or, if you're feeling really wicked, some Cornish clotted cream.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. To make the pastry, put the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt in the bowl of a food processor, then pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and 3 tbsp very cold water, and pulse until the mixture just starts to come together. Tip the dough onto a work surface and use your hands to bring together into a uniform dough. Wrap in cling film and chill for 1 hr. Can be made up to 3 days in advance.
• On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the pastry and use to line a 23cm tart tin. Trim off the excess and chill for 30 mins. Prick the chilled pastry shell with a fork and line with a crumpled piece of baking parchment. Fill with baking beans or rice, and bake in the oven for 20 mins. Remove the parchment and put the pastry back in the oven for 12-14 mins or until golden. Take out of the tin and put on a wire rack to cool completely.
• To make the filling, put the mascarpone, cream, vanilla and icing sugar in a large bowl and whisk until it just holds soft peaks. Spread the cream mixture into the pastry case in an even layer. Decorate with the fruit, however you like. Best eaten on the day.