With patriotic holidays always around the corner in the United States, a treat like this gorgeous Vegan red white, and blue fruit tart recipe is a welcome addition to your table. Knock the socks off your guests and celebrate in style the next time July 4th rolls around.
Trust us; it's a lot easier to make than it looks. Do all the work yourself or take some of the shortcuts we suggest. Either way, we can guarantee your guests will be impressed.
What is a Fruit Tart?
Our easy fruit tart recipe is a classic French dessert made with fruit and a creamy filling, layered on a fluted shortcrust pastry base and left uncovered so that the fresh fruit is on display. While tarts can be savory or sweet, a fruit tart is sweet and light with hints of tanginess from the fresh fruit, yet incredibly decadent.
Equipment Needed for this Classic Fruit Tart Recipe
- Fluted Tart Pan
- Fork
- Mixing Bowls
- Cooling Rack
- Food Processor
- Whisk
- Plastic Wrap
- Pastry Brush
Fruit Tart Recipe Ingredients
Pastry Cream Ingredients.
If you don't have time to make your own from scratch, use vegan vanilla pudding instead. It's an easy shortcut that doesn't sacrifice flavor.
- Unsweetened Almond Milk
- Sugar
- Corn Starch
- Vanilla Extract
- Coconut Oil
Ingredients for the Tart Shell
This recipe makes a ten-inch tart shell, but an easy shortcut is to buy a store-made vegan pie shell for a 9-inch tart. Notice that many of the ingredients need to be cold and plan accordingly.
- Flour. You can use all-purpose flour or even a gluten-free all-purpose substitute.
- Cold Coconut Oil. This will be hard like butter.
- Cold Vegan Butter. For that buttery flavor that we crave.
- Sugar. Granulated white table sugar.
- Cold Unsweetened Almond Milk. You can use any other plant-based milk.
- Pinch of Salt.
Coconut Whipped Cream
- Coconut Milk. Do not get the light version; it will not work. Make sure to refrigerate this overnight for the best results.
- Sugar. Do not use powdered sugar for this one.
Ingredients for Assembly of the Fresh Fruit Tart
- Strawberries. Since the fruit will be on display, look for bright, red, ripe strawberries without blemish.
- Blueberries. Fresh sweet blueberries when they are in season are the best. We recommend getting them at a farmer's market if you have one.
- All Fruit Apricot Spread. You can use any apricot jam or apricot preserves.
- Hot Water.
How To Make a Fruit Tart
How to Make Perfect Tart Shells
Get your oven preheated. Then use your food processor to combine the flour, coconut oil, vegan butter, or vegan shortening and salt. Add the almond milk a little at a time until you have a dough. Roll the dough into a 12-inch disk. Use a rolling pin to carefully move it to the tart pan. Refrigerate, and then prick the tart dough with a fork. Bake and cool.
Steps to Make the Fruit Tart Filling
Make the pastry cream with these simple steps. Heat up one cup of almond milk and sugar in a medium saucepan. Stir occasionally until bubbles start to appear on the sides. Whisk together more almond milk, vanilla extract, and cornstarch. Remove the bubbling mixture from the heat and combine it with the cornstarch mixture.
Bring it back to medium heat and whisk it constantly until it thickens like custard. Remove it from the heat again and add the coconut oil. Cool and cover it with plastic wrap so that it rests on the surface of the vanilla pastry cream.
How to Make Coconut Whipped Cream
When you refrigerate a can of coconut milk, the cream separates from the water and you can scoop that out. Don't get any liquid if possible. Mix this with the sugar and beat it until light and fluffy and beautiful. It will form soft peaks. Make sure to refrigerate it immediately because it is delicate.
Assembling the Tart
Begin by spreading the pastry cream on the shell, then add the fruit on top. Make our simple fruit tart glaze by combining the apricot spread with hot water. Use your pastry brush to apply this to the top of the fruit. Finally, garnish with the coconut whipped cream.
Recipe Tips and Variations
- Add raspberries, blackberries, or other berries, or trade out the strawberries for raspberries.
- If it's not for a patriotic occasion, add slices of kiwi or mango, or peaches in a new pattern for flavor variety.
- Do not attempt to assemble your fresh fruit tart until all of the ingredients have cooled completely.
- If you have extra coconut whipped cream, it will keep for several days in the refrigerator.
- If the crumbs don't come together in the food processor, but they do when you pinch them with your fingers, place them on a floured surface and knead with your hands until it forms a soft dough.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you keep fruit tarts from getting soggy?
Baking the tart crust helps keep it firm. Cold butter helps prevent an excessively moist crust. Using a thick pastry cream helps prevent moisture seepage. Over time, the crust may get soggy in your leftovers.
Can I freeze a fruit tart?
Yes. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and place it in an airtight container. Freeze for up to three months.
Can you make fruit tarts the night before?
Yes. For best results, bake the tart shell the night before and assemble the tart on the day of your event. However, if you need to assemble it the day before it will still work but may soften the crust slightly. Keep it cold in an airtight container.
How long is a fruit tart good for?
Your tart leftovers will keep for three to five days depending on the freshness of the fruit. Keep it in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The crust will become soggy over time.
More Great Tart Recipes
What Inspired This Recipe
One of the things I don't understand in food is artificial food coloring
A couple of days ago, I saw a picture posted that showed a beautiful display of bright, colorful fruit; it was striking! I often wonder why someone felt the need to create artificial colors with all the amazing colors available in nature. Fluorescent green drinks? Pink, green, and purple cereal? Electric blue frosting? It makes me cringe.
Call me boring, but I don't get it. Really, what is the point of it? As far as I'm concerned if a color doesn't come from nature, it doesn't belong inside my body. Period.
This year, I want to challenge you to Go Red, White, and Blue the natural way. Kick the fake stuff to the curb. Think you can do it?
Enjoy!
Ruth
Ideas for All-Natural Red White and Blue Foods
- Top your vanilla ice cream with blackberries, sliced strawberries, and pistachios instead of sprinkles.
- Make Popsicles using REAL fruit juice?
- Add Blueberries to your lemonade for a fun tie-dye effect.
Red White And Blue Vegan Fruit Tart
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 mins
- Yield: 8 slices
- Diet: Vegan
Description
A colorful easy-to-make fruit tart recipe that will surely impress your guests. They won’t believe it’s vegan!
Ingredients
- For the pastry cream (See Note#1)
- 1 ½ cups unsweetened almond milk
- 3 tablespoon sugar
- 3 tablespoon corn starch
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ½ tablespoon coconut oil
- For the tart shell - Makes a 10-inch tart (See Note #2)
- 1 ½ cups flour
- 4 tablespoon cold coconut oil
- 4 tablespoon cold vegan butter
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 3-4 tablespoon cold unsweetened almond milk
- Pinch of salt
- For the coconut whipped cream:
- 1-15 oz can coconut milk (NOT LIGHT), refrigerated overnight
- 1 ½ tablespoon sugar
- To assemble the tart:
- 1 lb strawberries (washed and thoroughly dried) sliced in half
- 1-pint blueberries (washed and thoroughly dried)
- 2 tablespoon all-fruit apricot spread or apricot jam or preserves
- 2 tablespoon hot water
Instructions
To prepare the pastry cream:
- In a small saucepan, heat 1 cup of the almond milk and the sugar just until small bubbles start to appear on the sides.
- In the meantime, in a small bowl whisk together ½ cup of the almond milk, the vanilla extract and corn starch until well incorporated.
- Off the heat, add the corn starch mixture to the warm milk. Bring the saucepan back to the stove and cook the cream over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens (this will happen quickly, in 30 to 45 seconds). Turn off the heat and add ½ tablespoon of coconut oil, mixing well until it melts completely. Set aside to cool, but do not refrigerate. Cover the surface with plastic wrap (so it touches the surface of the cream)
To prepare the tart shell:
- Preheat the oven to 375F
- Combine the flour, coconut oil, shortening and salt in a food processor. Pulse a few times until it has the consistency of coarse corm meal
- Add the almond milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, and keep pulsing until it forms a dough. (Note: if the crumbs don't come together in the food processor, but they do when you pinch them with your fingers, place them on a floured surface and knead with your hands until it forms a soft dough)
- Place the dough on a floured surface and roll it into a round 12-inch disk (approximately)
- Roll the dough over a rolling pin and carefully unroll it into a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Press it evenly with your fingers so the dough comes up the sides of the pan. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
- Carefully prick the bottom and sides with a fork several times to avoid air bubbles while baking (you can also use pie weights if you have them)
- Bake at 375F for 25 minutes until golden brown. Set aside to cool
To prepare the coconut whipped cream:
- Refrigerate the coconut milk overnight. The cream will solidify and separate from the water. Carefully scoop the cream (taking as little liquid as possible) and place it in a medium bowl
- Add the sugar and beat at medium to high speed until light and fluffy, and until it forms soft peaks. Refrigerate until ready to use.
To assemble the tart:
- Make sure all the elements of the tart have cooled completely before starting
- Spread the pastry cream on the tart shell. Arrange the fruit on top
- Combine the apricot spread and hot water in a small bowl and mix well. Gently glaze the fruit using a pastry brush
- Garnish with coconut "whipped cream" (leftover cream with last several days in the refrigerator)
Notes
Note #1: You can use store-bought vegan vanilla pudding instead of making the pastry cream
Note #2: You can use store-bought vegan pie crust instead of making the tart shell from scratch
This recipe was originally published on July2, 2012
- Prep Time: 35 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 365
- Sugar: 19.1 g
- Sodium: 382.7 mg
- Fat: 19.3 g
- Saturated Fat: 12.9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 45.1 g
- Fiber: 2.7 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Sabrina
This cake looks heavenly!! Love the idea of using coconut milk instead of cream! Can't wait to make this for the 4th of July!
Oh My Veggies (@ohmyveggies)
Oh my gosh, we are on the same wavelength or something--I just wrote a post that started the same way! But I feel the same way about food coloring. I just cringe at all the recipes I see on Pinterest that are laden with the stuff--yuck!
mayihavethatrecipe
How funny is that!!! What can I say, great minds think alike 😉
I have to agree with you on the greeting cards. They should have been on my list too...
Have a great, food coloring free 4th of july!!
Suzanne perazzini
That couldn't be more beautiful if you tried. It's a work of art.
mayihavethatrecipe
Thank you so much, you are very kind! Although we can't take all the credit, the colors are just amazing!! We just put them together 🙂
kitchenriffs
I'm with you on the food coloring. Except for Tandoori Chicken! I love that, and I love the color - and alas, it comes from food coloring. Anyway, nothing artificial about the colors in this tart. Good recipe, totally gorgeous pictures. Thanks.
mayihavethatrecipe
Thanks!! I had no idea Tandoori Chicken had food coloring. Hmm.... Oh well, no need for it when working with fruit, thankfully!! 🙂
healthyyou72
Oh this is gorgeous!!! I have been meaning to get the coconut oil at Trader Joe's. A perfect treat to take to a Summer BBQ! Take care, Terra
mayihavethatrecipe
Thank you!! We love using coconut oil, so versatile! And the one from Trader Joe's is great and very affordable too! Enjoy 🙂
Kelsey
Is there any way to substitute the sugar for honey or would that change the whole dynamic of the recipe? My mom cannot have sugar right now, but she can have honey.
Vicky & Ruth
Hi Kelsey,
You should be able to substitute honey without a problem. You may have to reduce the amount, since it's slightly sweeter than sugar. Also, if you're planning on making the coconut whipped cream, it might not whip as well. But you could perfectly make it without adding any sweetener at all! Hope this helps. Please let us know if you have any more questions.
Kelsey
Great! Thank you. I'm at the store now and for the all-fruit spread, I do not see apricot. I do see apricot preserves- is that similar??
Kelsey
Also- instead of apricot, could I use strawberry, blackberry, or blueberry?
Vicky & Ruth
Yes, absolutely. We chose apricot only because it has the most "neutral" color. The only purpose of it is to give the fruit some shine, so you could even skip it all together!
Vespera
Can I substitute almond milk or something else like rice milk or coconut milk?
Vicky & Ruth
Yes, Absolutely!