Fruit and Meringue Tart

Fresh fruits with cream cheese and smoky charred meringue on a buttery crumbly puff pastry! This Fruit and Meringue Tart is a perfect holiday dessert that is easy to put together. I try to stay away from puff pastry as much possible. It is my guilty pleasure. However, with the holiday season in full swing, I guess that occasional naughty bites are allowed!

We are currently in the middle of shifting to a different house. It’s just three miles away from the current one. Last year, when we came back to US, we had just two weeks to look for a place. With the jet lag and a 2.8 years toddler, we didn’t have much energy to look around a lot. The current house is beautiful and I love how gorgeously well-lit it is. But then, for a few other reasons, we just didn’t want to renew the lease. Luckily, we found a really nice single family town house that is very close to Arvind’s office. Once we shift the house, we will also shift Avyan’s preschool and that will again be closer to Arvind’s office. We already enrolled him and the pep talk has started. Lots to look forward to, for sure.

So, with all that, it’s been a little crazy out here and the occasional treat helps to cheer us up. I definitely need to start some serious workout after the holiday season.

This dessert is prepared in collaboration with Sonoma-Cutrer. This California winery is proud to bring together tradition and innovation. They marry together the Burgundian traditions with Californian ingenuity. They have a wide variety of wine collection to suit your taste buds. We are wine drinkers and love a good bottle every now and then. We tried their The Vine Hill Pinot Noir and The Cutrer Wine, Chardonnay. The bright acidity and flavorful finish of the Chardonnay paired beautifully with the Fruit and Meringue Tart. Now, I am no wine pairing expert, but the touch of tang from the wine helped in cutting the richness of the tart.

If you have worked with puff pastry before, you know that making this dessert is really easy. I had so much fun preparing and styling the dessert. I wanted to make it look pretty. So, took some time to layer the pears neatly and the berries added such a bright pop of colors. Meringue was an afterthought but I am so glad that I did it. Those charred meringue made the tart extra special. With couple glasses of wine it was absolutely festive.

Fruit and Meringue Tart

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Print

Ingredients

• 1 puff pastry sheet, rolled out
• 1/2 cup whipped cream cheese
• 1 bosc pear
• 1½ cups blackberries and raspberries
• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites
• ½ cup granulated white sugar
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, for dusting on the baked tart (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Roll the puff pastry on a baking sheet. Leaving ¼ inch from the edge, lightly score the border around the entire edge with a paring knife.
3. Cut the pear in half, core the seed out and then, thinly slice the pear.
4. Spread the cream cheese on the puff pastry, inside the border. Next, layer the sliced pears. Start with half of the sliced pear on the upper left side of the tart, facing the curve side toward the edge of the pastry. Layer half of the berries next to the pear.
5. Follow the same process with the bottom half, facing the curve side of the sliced pear towards the edge of the pastry.
6. Whisk 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of water. Brush the egg wash on the edges on the pastry sheet.
7. Place the baking sheet on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the edges of the puff pastry look golden brown.
8. Once done, switch off the oven and take the baking pan out. Let the tart cool for 10 minutes.
9. While the tart cools, prepare meringue. Place the egg whites in a mixing bowl and using an electric whisker, whisk the egg white until it’s stiff and holds shape. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, and keep whisking until the mixture looks glossy and stiff.
10. Spoon the meringue into a piping bag or a zip lock bag with the corner cut off. Pipe the meringue on the tart in little dollops. Using a hand torch, char the meringue dollops. You could alternatively place it in the oven under the broiler. If you use the oven technique, be very cautious, as it would take barely a minute.