This grain free red, white and blueberry fruit tart is a remake of an earlier post which had a graham cracker crust.
The original recipe, Patriotic Red, White and Blueberry Fruit Tart, posted on September 10th, 2011, was due for a update.
While I love the original graham cracker crust, I’m always looking for ways to eat all our favorite treats with less sugar, and gluten or grain free, if I can do it without sacrificing the flavor.
I love any kind of dessert with fruit, and this one is no exception. Not too sweet, not too tart and very adaptable; as you can use whatever fresh fruit is in the store. The filling is simply lemon curd and cream cheese. That’s it! No added sugar, other than what is the lemon curd. It’s the perfect filling for fresh fruit, which doesn’t need to be masked by an overly sweet filling. (This post contains affiliate links)
Use any crust you’d like!
I’ve made this easy dessert several times, with a couple of different types of crust. There’s short dough crust, which is more like a cookie dough, pie dough, which won’t be as sweet as the short dough crust, and the original recipe, from Nigella Lawson, which is a graham cracker crust. The latest incarnation is a grain free crust, which is basically just a nut crust.
(Here is the original recipe for the graham cracker crust: Pulse 27 sheets of graham crackers and 1 stick, 8 Tablespoons of unsalted butter in a food processor until it resembles sand. Press into the sides and bottom of a tart pan. Chill 10 to 15 minutes. Follow recipe below for filling and finish)
The most difficult part of the recipe is letting the pie chill for a couple of hours before you decorate it, so do prepare it in the morning if you plan on serving it later in the day.
For the grain free nut crust; mix the nuts, butter and a few dates for natural sweetness.
Pulse nuts, butter and dates in a food processor.
Press nut mixture into a greased pie plate or tart pan with a removable bottom.
Press the crust up the sides of a tart pan with a removable bottom.
Bake the nut crust for about 10-15 minutes to set it. Allow it to cool to room temperature.
Allow baked crust to cool. While the crust is cooling, prepare the filling, (which takes about 3 minutes!) and prep the fruit. Spread the filling into cooled pie crust.
Spread filling into cooled crust. Arrange the fruit in any pattern you wish.
Arrange fruit in a pattern starting with center and moving outward. To achieve a bakery quality finish, brush the top of the fruit with an apricot glaze before chilling.
If you’re looking for more patriotic desserts, try Star-spangled meringues with fresh berries, or this simple fresh strawberry pie. If you’re looking for more grain free desserts, try this Grain Free Berry Tart or Strawberry Fool.
Red, White and Blue Berry Fruit Tart
Ingredients
- 3 cups walnuts and almonds, (you can use pecans and hazelnuts as well)
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- 8 dates, soaked in hot water for 5 minutes, then pit
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 8-ounce bars cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup lemon curd, (8 ounces) at room temperature
- Assorted fresh fruit
- 1 loose-bottomed 10-inch fluted tart pan 2 inches deep
- 2 Tablespoons Apricot jam,
- 2 Tablespoons water
Instructions
- Soak dates in hot or warm water 5 minutes, then pit.
- In a food processor, fitted with blade, pulse nuts, butter, dates and salt until a dough forms.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Press dough into a greased tart pan with removable bottom. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until crust is golden.
- In a clean processor bowl, process the cream cheese and lemon curd and spread it into the bottom of the chilled tart crust, covering the base evenly.
- Arrange the fruit gently (so it doesn't sink in too much) on top of the lemony cream cheese.
- Refrigerator the tart, preferably overnight, or for at least 4 hours. It does need to get properly cold in order to set enough for the tart to be unmolded and sliced easily.
- For the glaze: mix 2 Tablespoons apricot jam and 2 Tablespoons water in a small sauce pan and cook over low heat, stirring until jam is melted and thin enough to brush over fruit. Add more water if necessary.
Cathy | She Paused 4 Thought says
Seriously gorgeous!
I love that you don’t have to bake the crust. I have homemade lemon curd sitting in my refrigerator and I was wondering what to do with it, now I know. I can’t wait to make this.
Cynthia says
Hi Cathy! Thanks for stopping by! Great to see you at camp this weekend.
Jennifer Johnson says
How beautiful and delicious! You can’t go wrong with fruit and cream cheese.
Cynthia says
Thanks Jennifer! Sorry I just saw your comment! cynthia
Joy @ Yesterfood says
Lemon curd and cream cheese? I LOVE this tart, Cynthia! Thank you so much for sharing it with us at Treasure Box Tuesday- I have posted it on G+ this afternoon! 🙂
Cynthia says
Thank you for sharing Joy!
Melissa says
Perfect summer dessert
Melissa @ Simply Sweets by Honeybee says
Such a lovely tart. Anything with graham crackers and lemon curd has to be divine.
Cynthia says
Melissa, I agree! I like that you can make the fruit in any pattern you choose too!
Kim @ The Cookie Puzzle says
Oh wow….what a easy, cool,refreshing yes beautiful dessert! I will be making this for sure! Thank you for taking the time to link up at Party in Your PJs, we hope you join us again tonight when the party goes live at 7pm CDT
Cynthia says
Kim, thanks for stopping by! I definitely will! Thank you!
Evelyn @ My Turn for us says
Just pinned and will be sharing on FB as one of our great features this week at Freedom Fridays!!!
Hugs and thanks so much for sharing!!
Cynthia says
Thank you for stopping by Evelyn!
Megan Keno says
Love me some berries!
Susan says
A perfect no-bake dessert and it’s pretty to boot!
fabiola@notjustbaked says
Absolutely beautiful! Summer fruit tarts are so pretty, and satisfy my sweet tooth perfectly!
Carol Borchardt says
Really beautiful and perfect for the 4th! I’m not much of a baker, but it looks easy enough even for me!
Matt @ Plating Pixels says
How fun! I could totally make this for 4th of July
Brandon @ Kitchen Konfidence says
I love a pretty tart, and this one is GORG!
marcie says
This tart is gorgeous, Cynthia! Desserts like this are my favorite in the summer!
Marye says
Oh wow, this tart is beautiful! Perfect for a cookout this weekend!
Allison - Celebrating Sweets says
So pretty! Has me ready for the long weekend ahead,
Nutmeg Nanny says
This tart is so pretty! So perfect for Memorial day!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
This is just the prettiest tart I’ve seen! It’s beautiful! I love all the berries we get in Summer, they are so pretty to photograph and you can make amazing patterns with them on desserts! I love nothing more than a fresh fruit tart on a warm Summer’s night!
Melissa King says
I’d love this with a cookie crust! How fun!!
Marie says
So delicious and colourful looking with all the fresh fruit! Love the nut and date crust too. Pinning this one.
Cynthia says
Thank you Marie!
Natalie says
This tart is simply perfect! I love that the crust is grain free! Looks absolutely gorgeous and perfect as 4th of July dessert ♥
Cynthia says
Yes, it’s nice to have options for everyone. Thank you Natalie!
Brian Jones says
That looks amazing, loving the filling but I have to say that crust sounds jaw-droppingly good!
Cynthia says
Thank you Brian. The crust is so good, you won’t miss the graham cracker crust.
kim says
I’m all about berry desserts in the summer and this one looks just perfect! Saving this for my next upcoming barbecue!
Cynthia says
Me too…so much lighter than chocolate.