Pomegranate Fruit Tart

Impress your guests when you present this elegant pomegranate fruit tart. The delicious cookie-like crust is the perfect shell to hold homemade pastry cream and fresh pomegranate.

I have a sweet tooth. I make no bones about it. I especially have a weakness for fruit desserts. Fruit on their own are incredible, especially when enjoyed at the peak of their season.

In my opinion, there is no better way to highlight fresh fruits than in a beautiful fruit tart. For the summer, that means berries and peaches. And the fall? Hello pomegranate!

Why this recipe is so great

Besides hearing me go on and on about my passion for fruits, this fruit tart is amazing for many other reasons, too. The crust alone is like a buttery cookie. It’s not overly sweet and it doesn’t fall apart like graham cracker crusts.

For the filling, I chose to use classic pastry cream. But you can use almost any filling you want. This crust can handle it.

Now making a fruit tart from scratch may sound like more than you can handle, but most of the grunt work can be done ahead of time. The tart shell is baked alone and can be made a day or two before serving.

The pastry cream can also be made ahead of time. This leaves only the final assembly, which should be done the same day it is served. And the assembly of your fruit tart, is the easiest step.

You can also use any fresh fruit you want, just make sure they aren’t super wet or juicy. You don’t want a soggy tart. This pomegranate fruit tart makes one elegant dessert for the holidays. Make a big 9-inch tart or several small individual tarts.

See my Pomegranate Tart Web Story for a quick visual guide to making this recipe.

Ingredients you need

Sweet pastry crust ingredients

• Butter: Pie shells are sometimes all butter or a mix of butter and shortening. This is a sweet pastry crust and has a different texture and flavor than typical pie crusts. Choose a good quality unsalted butter so its flavor can shine.
• Egg: One large egg is needed in this recipe. You will have enough dough to make two 9-inch tarts or six to eight 4-inch tarts.
• Lemon: The zest of lemon is used in this pastry crust. It adds a wonderful bright flavor. You can also use orange zest or omit altogether.
• Pantry Staples: Sugar, all purpose flour, vanilla extract, salt

Pastry cream ingredients

You can use any pastry cream recipe for this part or cheat and whip up some instant pudding and use that instead.

• Egg Yolks: Large egg yolks and not the entire egg makes pastry cream rich and creamy.
• Whole Milk: When it comes to making pastry cream, fat is good. Whole milk is preferred to low-fat or skim. Some recipes use heavy cream instead.
• Cornstarch: You can use either cornstarch, flour or a combination of the two to thicken your pastry cream.
• Pantry Staples: Sugar, vanilla extract and salt

Final topping ingredients

• Pomegranate Arils: You can use as much fruit as you want in your fruit tart. Just understand that if your tart is filled with pomegranate, it will not hold its shape as well once cut into slices. One large pomegranate will yield approximately 1 cup of pomegranate. Learn how to cut and seed a pomegranate here.
• Pomegranate Jelly: The jelly is boiled and thinned a little with water to make a glaze you can brush on over the fruit. You can also use strawberry jelly. If creating a fruit tart with light colored fruit, use apricot jelly or orange marmalade.

Step-by-step directions

1. In a mixing bowl, use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula and blend soft butter and sugar together. Do not incorporate a lot of air. Make sure butter is soft and at room temperature. This is not pie dough which requires cold butter.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, vanilla, salt and grated lemon zest. A microplaner is perfect for grating citrus zest.

3. Add vanilla mixture into the creamed butter and mix until evenly combined.

4. Add all of the flour and fold in until just incorporated. Don’t over mix. Over mixing will yield a tough pastry crust.

5. Scrape out dough from the bowl and onto the countertop. Press dough together without overworking it. Make sure butter is incorporated and dough comes together. It should be soft and moist, not crumbly.

6. Divide dough into 2 equal pieces and shape each into flat discs. Wrap each piece tightly with parchment paper or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.

7. When dough is chilled, it is time to roll it out. Lightly dust work surface and rolling pin with flour. As you roll the dough, if it cracks, it is too cold. Let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes. If the dough is too soft, it needs to refrigerate longer.

8. Roll dough quickly so it doesn’t get too warm. If it is too soft, regfrigerate dough and then continue rolling. Roll dough until about ⅛-inch thick.

9. I like to roll my pie/tart dough on parchment paper which makes transferring the dough to tart pan much easier. Use a bench scraper or large spatula to help loosen the dough from your work surface. Gently lay the dough over the tart pan and press gently into the pan. Use a tart pan that has a removable bottom.

10. Use your fingers or the bottom of a measuring cup to press the dough into the base and along the sides of the tart pan. Press dough down along the edge of the pan and remove excess dough.

11. Poke the base of the dough a few times with a fork. Place tart in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes.

12. Place parchment paper inside tart shell then fill evenly with dried beans or pie weights. If you don’t add parchment paper the pie weights will bake into the crust. Yes, I accidentally did that once!

13. Bake at 375ºF for about 15 minutes or until the edges just start to turn golden. Remove the beans/pie weights from the tart shell and bake again for another 5-10 minutes, or until the dough is cooked through and is golden brown. Place onto a rack to cool completely.

14. When tart shell and pastry cream is cool and ready for assembly, make the glaze. Bring jelly and 2-4 TBS water (depending on how many tarts you are making) to boil in a small pot. Whisk until jelly is melted. Remove any bits of fruit.

15. Spoon pastry cream into tart shell and spread it out evenly. You will want to fill about ⅔ of the tart shell with the pastry cream. You want to have room for the fruit.

16. Spread as much or as little pomegranate or other fruit evenly over the pastry cream.

17. Brush all of the fruit with the pomegranate glaze. If the glaze starts to clump, reheat and then brush again.

18. Refrigerate tart for at least 2 hours to give the pastry cream time to set. Fruit tarts are best assembled and served on the same day.

Expert Tips and Recipe FAQS

Don’t let all the steps to make a fruit tart overwhelm you. The sweet pastry crust is much more forgiving and easier to make than the traditional pie crust. You can also prepare all of the components of your fruit tart a day or two ahead of when you are serving it.

Customize your fruit tart for every season:

• Summer Fruits: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, peaches,
• Fall/Winter Fruits: figs, pomegranate, grapes
• Spring Fruits: apricot, cherry, kiwi, kumquat, pineapple

PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback.

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