Taste the Rainbow With This Colorful Fruit Tart (2024)

This easy fruit tart is the Goldilocks of summer desserts: it's easier than making a classic summer pie, but fancier than a down-home fruit cobbler. It looks dramatic, elegant, and downright impressive, but it's actually simple to make. Sounds just right, right?With its fresh fruit topping, light, creamy filling, and crisp crust, this fruit tart is easy enough for dessert after a quick dinner but pretty (and delicious!) enough to serve at all of your summer holiday get-togethers and celebrations. Just slice up whatever fruit is in season and whip up this beautiful, refreshingdessert. Everyone will beg for a second slice!

How do you keep the bottom of a tart from getting soggy?

This tart shell is baked before any filling is poured in to keep it crispy and sturdy. If you have leftovers, the crust will eventually soften some as it sits in the fridge, but it should still hold together just fine for a few days.

Do I need to grease the tart pan?

Nope! The crust has enough butter to keep it from sticking to the pan, so there's no need for greasing.

What's the difference between fruit pizza and fruit tart?

The major difference is in the crust. The crust of a fruit pizza looks like, well, a pizza crust! It's typically made with a sugar cookie dough and baked into a giant cookie "pizza" before it's topped with a sweet, creamy "sauce" and medley of fresh fruit. Fruit tart is a bit more structured and polished, using a tart pan to form a crust that cradles filling and fruit.

What's the filling made of?

This fruit tart's filling is a lusciously creamy and decadent without being too heavy. It's made with rich cream cheese, sour cream for a hint of tang, powdered sugar, and delicious vanilla bean paste, but you can use vanilla extract if that's all you have on hand. The mixture is beat together before some heavy cream is whipped in to help achieve a light and fluffy texture.

What kind of fruit can you use to make a fruit tart?

When it comes to the gorgeous fruit topping on this fruit tart, the sky's the limit! This version uses a colorful mix of strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, and mango, but the tart would be just as delicious with say, all raspberries, or a mix of blackberries and blueberries, or a fan of mango and papaya spears. Just be sure the fruit is properly peeled, hulled, and pitted—basically, just make sure any tough bits are well out of the way so that every bite is bursting with unbridled deliciousness.

Do you need a tart pan for this recipe?

This recipe does call to use a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, but this tart can be baked in any 9-inch round oven-safe dish. However, it will be much easier to slice and serve if it's made in tart pan because the bottom and sides are removable. Shoptart pan sets that include three sizes, which would be perfect for any future tart recipes. Don't worry about being short on kitchen storage space—it's still a smart choice, because the pans nest inside each other.

Can this fruit tart be made ahead of time?

Absolutely! The dough can be made three days ahead or frozen up to a month. The tart shell can be baked the night before, and the whole tart can be assembled a day ahead and stored in the refrigerator on a pretty cake stand and presented with a dramatic "ta-da!" when it's time for dessert.