Fruit Tartlets
These vibrant Fruit Tartlets are filled with creamy whipped mascarpone and topped with a colorful medley of fresh fruit! The easy crust is made with a sweet tart dough (pâte sucrée) that adds a delicious crunch.
These professional looking desserts have a combination of textures and flavors that make it incredibly difficult to eat just one!
Recipe ingredients
- Unsalted butter: Provides richness and structure.
- Granulated sugar: Adds sweetness and helps with browning.
- Kosher salt: Enhances flavor and balances sweetness.
- All purpose flour: Forms the base of the crust.
- Egg: Acts as a binding agent.
- Heavy cream: Provides base for whipped cream.
- Powdered sugar: Adds sweetness and stabilizes cream.
- Mascarpone: Adds richness and slightly tangy flavor.
- Vanilla extract: Enhances the flavor and adds sweet notes.
Variations and substitutions
Filling: Instead of mascarpone whipped cream, try lemon curd, chocolate ganache or pastry cream for your mini fruit tarts.
Fruit Topping: I used peaches, kiwi, raspberries and blueberries for these fruit tartlets. Cherries, strawberries and blackberries are a few of my other favorite options.
Step by step instructions
Step 1: Make the dough. Cream the butter with the sugar and salt. Briefly mix in the flour, then the egg. Chill for 1 hour.
Step 2: Assemble the tartlet shells. Roll out the dough, cut out circles and press into the tins. Chill before baking.
Step 3: Make the mascarpone whipped cream. Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl and whip until stiff peaks form.
Step 4: Fill and decorate the tartlets. Use a piping bag to fill the tartlets with cream and then decorate with fruit.
Storage and make ahead
The tartlet shells can be made up to three days in advance. Store them covered at room temperature until ready to use.
The assembled tarts can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to two days.
Expert tips and tricks
- Don’t forget to poke holes in the bottom and sides of the dough. This keeps the tartlet shells from puffing up while baking.
- Let your dough chill before baking. Letting the dough chill in the refrigerator right before baking helps it hold its shape.
- Keep an eye on the tartlet shells in the oven. These dainty little crusts can go from golden to dark brown rather quickly!
FAQs
To keep the crust from shrinking in the oven, make sure not to overwork the dough and try not to stretch it when filling the tins. Pricking the dough with a fork and chilling the dough before baking also helps the crust hold its shape.
I recommend choosing 3-4 fruits and making sure each fruit is a different color.
The shells can be made up to 3 days in advance. I recommend adding the mascarpone filling and fruit topping only one day in advance.
Fruit Tartlets Recipe
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 18 Tartlets
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Global
Ingredients
Tartlet Crust
makes 18 tartlets using 2.5-inch (6 cm) tins
- 1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/3 cups (170 grams) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled*
- 1 large egg
Mascarpone Cream
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy cream, cold
- 1/3 cup (40 grams) powdered sugar
- 4 ounces (100 grams) mascarpone
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Fruit Topping Ideas
- Strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, raspberries, blackberries, mango
Instructions
Tartlet Crust
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar and salt. Cream the mixture until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the flour and beat on low until just combined. Make sure not to overmix.
- Add the egg and continue beating until the dough comes together, less than a minute.
- Wrap with plastic and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour before using.
- Generously flour your work surface and rolling pin. Flatten the dough into a disc and sprinkle both sides with flour. Roll out the dough to ⅛ inch (3 mm) thickness and cut out rounds big enough to cover your tartlet forms with a slight overhang.
- Gently press the dough into the forms and use a knife to trim the excess dough.
- Use a fork to poke holes in the sides and bottom of the tart shells. Place the tartlet forms in the refrigerator until firm, about 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (190°C).
- Bake the tartlet crusts for about 15-17 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.
- Allow the crusts to cool completely before removing from the forms.
Mascarpone Cream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whip attachment, combine the heavy cream, powdered sugar, mascarpone and vanilla extract.
- Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form (about 5-7 minutes).
- Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Assembly
- Once the tartlet crusts have cooled completely, fill each with a heaping spoonful of mascarpone cream.
- Top each tartlet with a variety of chopped fruits and store in the refrigerator.
Notes
Spooned and leveled: Scooping a measuring cup into a flour container can result in much more flour than intended, which can affect the success of your tartlet crusts. To get a more accurate measurement, use a spoon to scoop flour into the measuring cup until it’s completely full. Then run the back of a knife over the cup to gently scrape off any excess.
Make ahead: The tartlet shells can be made up to three days in advance. Store covered at room temperature.
Storage: Assembled tartlets can be stored covered in the refrigerator for up to two days.
Loving these fruit tartlets? For more summer-inspired desserts, check out these recipes:
This post may contain affiliate links through which we may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. We only recommend products that we genuinely love and would use ourselves.