These bite sized fruit tarts are simply delicious. They were my favorite pastry dessert when i was a kid. I loved them with all types of fruits … but actually my favorite were strawberry ones.
Mini tarts are basically shortbread crunchy shells filled with smooth vanilla cream. On top you can add any type of fruit you want (i’m not so sure about watermelon, but i guess you can try) and cover it with gelatine to keep the fruits in place.
Mini tarts with fruits Video Recipe
Mini tarts with fruits

Let's say that the most complicated thing about this recipe is making the dough. But even that is not that complicated.
If you like the recipe you can make dough in advance and store it in the freezer for future tarts. I will take longer just one time.
Ingredients
- Fruits:
- grapes - a few pieces
- raspberry - a few pieces
- blueberry - a few pieces
- strawberry - a few pieces
- For the dough:
- flour - 250 grams
- butter - 125 grams
- water - 70 ml, cold
- sugar - 20 grams
- eggs - 1 piece, yolk only
- lemon zest - 1 teaspoon
- salt - a pinch
- For the cream:
- milk - 400 ml
- corn starch - 30 grams
- sugar - 60 grams
- vanilla pod - 1 piece
- saffron - a pinch
- For the gelatine:
- gelatin powder - 8 grams
- sugar - 2 spoons
- water - 200 ml
Instructions
I know there are a lot of ingredients, but it's quite simple to make:
First the dough:
- For the dough i mixed all the ingredients (flour, egg yolk, butter, water, sugar, lemon zest and a pinch of salt) in a big bowl. I made an elastic dough that i wrapped in plastic foil and kept in the fridge for two hours. Enough time to make the cream.
Cream:
- I dissolved the corn starch in a few tablespoons of milk. I heated the rest of the milk in a pot with a few pinches of saffron. The saffron gives a nice flavor to the cream and colors it yellowish. After the milk boiled i strained it, removing the saffron bits.
- I put the strained milk back on the stove and added a split vanilla pod.
- I added sugar and let it boil a little. After that i removed the vanilla pod and added the corn starch mixed with milk. Even though you mixed the corn starch with milk you might find that it turned solid again. It is normal, mix it again and it will be ok. Be sure to mix very well after adding cornstarch because your cream will get thicker almost instantly and you don't want any lumps.
- Remove it from the stove and let it cool a bit.
- For the tarts i bough a few silicon trays for tarts (i think they were actually for muffins but it worked). I coated them with olive oil before putting the dough in it.
- I unwrapped the dough from the plastic. I took medium pieces of dough and turned them into balls. I stretched the balls making dough sheets big enough to cover the little trays (basically this is what you have to do, to cover the trays with dough, not too thin, not too thick).
- I baked the tarts shells in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. After this i removed them from the shapes and let them cool.
- I filled each shell with cream and arranged the fruits on top.
The final step is the gelatine:
- I mixed gelatine powder with sugar and added water bit by bit. I put the mixture on the stove for about one minute.
- Using a tablespoon i coated my mini tarts with gelatine. I kept them in the fridge a bit before serving.
Enjoy your meal!
Wish I had a couple of these sitting in front of me right now! There’s a local coffee shop that makes fruit tarts and I’m always ordering them. Yours look even better.
you are very kind