Brown Butter French Fruit Tart

Ingredients

• For the Brown Butter Pastry Cream:

  • ¼ cup unsalted butter
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • ½ cup light brown sugar, divided
  • ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla paste (or vanilla extract)

• For the Tart:

  • 3 cups peaches (about 3 peaches), sliced
  • 3 cups red plums (about 3 plums), sliced
  • ¼ cup cherries, pitted and halved
  • 1 recipe Pâte Sucrée, fully baked
  • Toasted almonds, for sprinkling
  • Demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Instructions

1. Prepare the Brown Butter Pastry Cream:

   • Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until it turns deep golden brown and the popping stops. Let it cool until warm.
   • In a medium saucepan, combine milk, ¼ cup of brown sugar, and salt. Heat over medium-low until simmering.
   • In a large bowl, whisk the remaining ¼ cup of brown sugar with the egg yolks until mixed. Add cornstarch and whisk until thickened.
   • Slowly whisk the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture. Return to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until the cream thickens and bubbles slowly on the surface.
   • Stir in the brown butter and vanilla paste. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl to remove any curdled bits.
   • Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Cool to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight.

2. Assemble the Tart:

   • Slice the peaches and plums thinly. Pit and halve the cherries, leaving a few whole if desired.
   • Stir the chilled pastry cream, then pour it into the cooled, fully baked Pâte Sucrée tart crust. Spread evenly with an offset spatula.
   • Arrange the peach and plum slices on top of the pastry cream. Place the cherry halves and whole cherries as well.
   • Sprinkle with toasted almonds and Demerara sugar.

3. Serve:

   • Serve the tart immediately after assembling.