Kerrie Buitrago's Fruit

Ingredients

Tart Pastry shell:

• 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 stick sweet butter
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg

Pastry cream:

• 4 ¼ cups milk
• 1 ¼ cup sugar
• 10 egg yolks
• ½ cup cornstarch
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped
• 3 tablespoons Grand Marnier or Kirsch
• ⅓ cup heavy cream whipped
• Variety of fruits in season
• Apricot jam for glaze

Enough for two 9-inch tarts

Preparation

Tart Pastry shell:

1. Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Using your fingers, combine all ingredients and form into a ball. Do not overwork. Refrigerate one hour before using.
2. Line a 9-inch pastry shell with the dough. Place a layer of parchment paper over it and weight with dried beans, rice or lentils.
3. Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 400-degree oven or until crust is golden. Let cool.

Pastry cream:

1. Bring milk to boil.
2. Beat egg yolks and sugar together in a separate bowl. Add cornstarch while whisking. Pour a ladle of warm milk into the egg yolk mixture, return to heat and add vanilla. Whisk until just thick. Cool.
3. Mix pastry cream with Grand Marnier or Kirsch to taste and lighten with a small amount of whipped cream.
4. Fill prebaked tart shell with pastry cream.
5. Arrange a variety of fresh fruits on top, such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, cantaloupe, black and green grapes, kiwi slices. Fill in with mandarin oranges and lichee nuts for color contrast
6. Glaze with hot apricot jam. Mix 1/4 cup of jam with two tablespoons of water to thin out if necessary, so that the coating is very light and not coagulated. Brush on apricot coating with a pastry brush.