Fresh Gluten Free Fruit Tart

5 from 2 votes

This gluten free fruit tart has a light, buttery pastry crust, filled with a no-cook cream filling, & topped with the season's freshest fruit!

Prep Time25

Cook Time30

Chilling time3 30

Course: Pie

Cuisine: American

Keyword: gluten free fruit tart

Servings: slices fruit tart

Author: Nicole Hunn

Equipment

Stand mixer with paddle attachment or handheld mixer
11-inch round tart pan with removable bottom

Ingredients

For the shortcrust pastry tart crust

1 egg at room temperature, separated
⅜ cup cold water plus more by the half-teaspoon as necessary, iced
1 ½ cups all purpose gluten free flour blend my Better Than Cup4Cup blend is ideal, but please click thru for full information on appropriate flour blends, plus more for dusting
¾ teaspoon xanthan gum omit if your blend already contains it
½ cup confectioners’ sugar sifted
½ teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter roughly chopped (into large chunks) and chilled

For the filling

1 cup heavy whipping cream chilled
½ cup confectioners’ sugar sifted
8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature (must be block cream cheese, Philadelphia brand is best, & full fat)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt

⠀For the fruit topping

8 ounces fresh strawberries hulled and sliced about 1/4-inch thick
2 fresh kiwis peeled and sliced by cross-section, about 1/4-inch thick
4 ounces fresh blueberries and/or blackberries
2 tablespoons apple or apricot jelly

Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the shortcrust.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk the egg yolk (reserve the white) and 3/8 cup cold water until well combined. Add some ice to the mixture to keep it cold, and set it aside.
In a large bowl, place the flour, xanthan gum, confectioners’ sugar, and salt, and whisk to combine well.
Add the chopped and chilled butter, and toss to coat the butter in the dry ingredients.
Press each floured chunk of butter between a floured thumb and forefinger to flatten.
Create a well in the center of the large bowl of dry ingredients, add the egg yolk and water mixture, taking care to filter out the ice.
Mix to combine. The dough will come together.
If there are any very crumbly bits, add more ice water by the half-teaspoon and mix to combine. Knead the dough together lightly just enough to press it into a disk.
Transfer the dough to a large piece of plastic wrap. Cover and press into a disk.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight. You can chill the tightly-covered tart dough for up to a week, but it may be too difficult to roll out at first. Just allow it to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes or until it rolls more easily (but make sure the dough stays cold).
Once the dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 375°F. Grease the bottom and sides of an 11-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom and set it aside.
Unwrap the dough, then turn it out onto a well-floured surface. Dust the surface with a bit more flour, and roll it out with a rolling pin into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle.
Fold the rectangle in half lengthwise, dust again lightly with flour, and roll the dough out again into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle.
Once more, fold the rectangle in half lengthwise, and then fold again widthwise to create a thick square.
Dust the square lightly with flour, and roll the dough out into a round that is about 13-inches in diameter (or about 2 inches larger in diameter than the tart pan you have chosen) and a bit less than 1/4-inch thick (not quite 1/8-inch).
Transfer the round of dough to the prepared tart pan, and press it gently into the bottom and the sides of the pan.
Using a knife or kitchen shears, trim the edges of the dough flush with the upper edge of the sides of the pan.
Pierce the bottom and sides of the tart crust with the tines of a fork about 25 times.
Brush the bottom surface of the crust generously with the egg white. Place the crust in the freezer for about 5 minutes or until it is beginning to feel firm.
Cover the bottom of the crust with parchment paper, and then dried beans or heat safe pie weights.
Place the tart crust in the center of the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes at 375°F.
Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F, and remove the parchment and pie weights from the tart.
Return the tart crust to the oven and bake at 350°F for another 10 minutes or until dry to the touch and lightly golden brown in spots.
Remove the tart crust from the oven and allow it to cool fully before filling.

Make the filling.

Transfer 2 tablespoons of the cream to a small bowl and set it aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a large bowl with a handheld mixer, place the remaining cream and beat on medium-high speed until soft peaks form.
Add the confectioners’ sugar, and continue to beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. Transfer the whipped cream to a separate, medium-size bowl and place in the refrigerator to chill while you beat the cream cheese.
In the same mixing bowl, place the cream cheese, vanilla, salt and reserved 2 tablespoons cream.
With the paddle attachment if using a stand mixer, or the balloon whisks if using a handheld mixer, beat the cream cheese mixture on medium-high speed until smooth and light (about 5 minutes).
Remove the whipped cream from the refrigerator, add half of it to the cream cheese mixture, and whisk to combine.
Add the remaining whipped cream, and fold it into the filling carefully until combined.

Assemble the tart.

Place the filling on top of the cooled tart crust, and use an offset or silicone spatula to spread it into an even layer.
Decorate the top with the prepared fruit in whatever pattern you like. Sometimes, I like to place fruit by the type in concentric circles on top of the filling, and other times I place it randomly. As long as the colors of the fruit are varied, it will be beautiful.
Using a pastry brush, paint the tops of the fruit with a light layer of jelly. If the jelly has been refrigerated, you may need to place it in a small microwave-safe bowl and warm it for a few seconds (really, just seconds) in the microwave to loosen it first.
Slice and serve immediately, or, for a cleaner slice, place the assembled fruit tart in the refrigerator for about an hour to allow the filling to set.

Notes

About the crust.

I think this fruit tart tastes best with a flaky tart crust, like this recipe instructs. If you'd prefer, though, you can make it using a gluten free graham cracker crust, using a tart pan instead of a pie plate.

Nutrition information.

Nutrition information is an estimate only from online calculators, provided as a courtesy, and should not be relied on under any circumstances.

Nutrition