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German Pastry Chef, home

Cakes

No-Bake Fruit Tart

by Lisa

Trained pastry chef

No-bake fruit tart with a ladyfinger crust, vanilla cream and colorful fresh fruit

5.0 (1)out of 5, 1 rating

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Prep
10 min
Chill
1 hr 30 min
Total
1 hr 40 min
Makes
10 pieces

Today I have a recipe for you that's perfect when guests drop by unexpectedly. This fruit tart comes together super quickly and is great for beginners too, because the cookie crust & vanilla pudding are easy to make and go into the pan in no time. Which fruit you use for your fruit tart is of course up to you. Personally, I like seasonal fruit best for my fruit tart. But here's a list of fruit that always ends up on my fruit tart:

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- Cherries (from a jar)

- Apples

- Honeydew melon

- Pineapple (canned)

- Kiwi

- Oranges

- Grapes

Which fruit always goes on your fruit tart? Or do you make your fruit tart completely differently? This is how I learned it back in my pastry training, and I've been topping it this way ever since.

Have fun baking and enjoy!

Ingredients

Makes 10 pieces

Crust

  • 7 oz200 gladyfingersLight, dry sponge fingers. In the US use ladyfingers (savoiardi); in the UK, sponge fingers (savoiardi).
  • 1 stick120 gunsalted buttermelted. German butter is unsalted and has about 82 percent fat. In the US use unsalted butter (European-style unsalted butter is closest); in the UK, unsalted butter.

Vanilla Cream

  • 1 ⅔ cups400 mlmilk
  • 2 to 3 tbspgranulated sugar
  • 1 packetvanilla custard pudding powderA packet of vanilla-flavored starch (about 37 g) cooked with 2 cups (500 ml) of milk and sugar into pudding. In the US use about ⅓ cup (40 g) cornstarch plus 1 tsp vanilla extract per packet, or one box of cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix (not instant) per packet, with the sugar reduced because the mix is sweetened; in the UK, custard powder, about 40 g per German packet (it is unsweetened, so it swaps 1:1 by weight).
  • 1egg yolk

Fruit

  • seasonal fruitfresh
  • canned fruit
  • cherries from a jar
  • fruit from the garden

Fruit Glaze

  • ¾ cup plus 1 tbsp200 mlliquid
  • 1 tbspgranulated sugar
  • 3 tspagar-based gelling powderA plant-based gelling powder made with agar; it has to be boiled briefly to set. In the US and UK use agar agar powder, using the amount on its package because strengths vary.

Method

Crust

  1. Finely crush the ladyfingers and mix them with the butter, then press the mixture firmly into a 10-inch (26 cm) pan.

  2. Let the crust firm up in the fridge, and in the meantime cook the vanilla cream.

Vanilla Cream

  1. Whisk all the ingredients together and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute.

  2. Pour the vanilla cream onto the chilled crust while it's still hot.