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homemade vanilla cream tart with custard and berries

Vanilla Cream Tarts Recipe

Silky vanilla cream tarts with a buttery crust and smooth custard filling. Elegant, easy to make, and customizable with fruit or chocolate toppings.
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Course: Baking, Dessert
Cuisine: European, French
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Chilling time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours 50 minutes
Servings: 6 tarts
Calories: 320kcal
Cost: $8–10

Equipment

  • Tart pans with removable bottoms
  • Pastry cutter or food processor
  • Rolling pin
  • Pie weights or dried beans
  • Fine-mesh strainer
  • Piping bag with round tip
  • Wire cooling rack
  • Heavy-bottomed saucepan

Ingredients

Tart Crust

  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ cup unsalted butter cold and cubed
  • ¼ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 2–3 tablespoon ice water
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Vanilla Cream Filling

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
  • 1 pinch salt

Optional Toppings

  • Fresh berries raspberries, strawberries, blueberries
  • Powdered sugar for dusting
  • Whipped cream
  • Fresh mint leaves

Instructions

  • Mix flour, sugar, salt, and butter until crumbly. Add yolk, vanilla, and water. Form into disk and chill.
  • Roll out dough, cut circles, and press into tart pans. Chill 15 min.
  • Line with parchment and weights. Bake 12–15 min, remove weights, bake 5–7 more. Cool completely.
  • Warm milk in saucepan until simmering.
  • In bowl, whisk yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
  • Slowly whisk hot milk into yolk mixture. Return to pan, cook until thick.
  • Remove from heat, whisk in butter and vanilla. Strain, cover with wrap, chill 2 hrs.
  • Whisk chilled cream smooth, pipe into tart shells, top with fruit, dust with sugar.

Notes

Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximation.

Nutrition

Serving: 120g | Calories: 320kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 130mg | Sodium: 140mg | Potassium: 120mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 550IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 80mg | Iron: 1.8mg