Kiwi Tart
Ingredients
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- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter – cut into small cubes, cold
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tbsp ice water – chilled, use as needed
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 4 large egg yolks
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/8 tsp fine sea salt
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 6 medium kiwifruit – peeled and sliced into 0.25-inch rounds
- 1/2 cup apricot jam
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
1. Combine the flour, confectioners' sugar, and 0.25 tsp salt in a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the cold cubed butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with pea-size bits, 8–10 pulses.
2. Add the egg yolk and 1 tbsp of the ice water; pulse until the dough just begins to clump, adding up to 1 more tbsp ice water only if needed. Turn out, press into a 1-inch-thick disc, wrap, and chill until firm, about 1 hour.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to an 11-inch round. Fit it into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, pressing up the sides. Trim excess, dock the base with a fork, and freeze 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.
4. Line the shell with parchment and fill with pie weights. Bake until the edges look set, 15–18 minutes. Remove weights and parchment and bake until the crust is golden and fully dry, 10–12 minutes more. Cool completely on a rack, 30–45 minutes.
5. For the pastry cream, heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming with small bubbles at the edges (do not boil).
6. In a bowl, whisk the 4 egg yolks, granulated sugar, 0.125 tsp salt, and cornstarch until pale and thick, about 1 minute.
7. Slowly whisk half the hot milk into the yolk mixture to temper. Return all to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it bubbles and thickens; once boiling, cook 1 minute while whisking.
8. Remove from heat and whisk in the 2 tbsp butter until smooth, then the vanilla extract. Spread the pastry cream in a shallow dish, press plastic wrap directly on the surface, and chill until cold, about 1 hour.
9. Whisk the chilled pastry cream to loosen and spread it evenly in the cooled tart shell.
10. Arrange the peeled, sliced kiwifruit in slightly overlapping concentric circles over the pastry cream.
11. Warm the apricot jam with 1 tbsp water in a small saucepan over low heat until fluid, 2–3 minutes. Strain to remove solids, then gently brush the warm glaze over the kiwi to coat.
12. Chill the tart 15 minutes to set the glaze. Unmold, slice, and serve.
Kiwi Tart marries a crisp, sweet pastry shell with silky vanilla pastry cream and a canopy of fresh kiwi. The fruit’s bright acidity and vivid green slices play against a buttery crust and custard, finished with a light apricot sheen that keeps the fruit juicy and glossy. Each bite balances tang and sweetness, creaminess and crunch, for a dessert that’s both elegant and refreshing.
Rooted in the French tradition of a tarte aux fruits, this tart adapts the classic fruit-tart format to feature kiwifruit, a relative newcomer to European patisserie. While fruit tarts have been fixtures of French pastry for centuries, kiwi gained wider culinary use in the late twentieth century after cultivation spread from China to New Zealand and beyond. Today, patisseries often showcase seasonal fruit in this timeless format, and kiwi offers a modern, eye-catching variation with distinctive flavor and color.