Red, White, and Blue Dessert: Grain-Free Berry Fruit Tart

This red, white and blue dessert idea is perfect for your patriotic celebrations this summer! The delicious, colorful, berry fruit tart can be made with a grain-free crust, or with a dough or graham cracker crust.

Easy 4th of July Dessert Recipe

I love any kind of dessert with fruit, and this patriotic tart is no exception. Not too sweet, not too tart, with a very adaptable recipe – if you don’t need a red, white and blue dessert, use whatever fresh fruit is available! 

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. 

If you’re looking for more patriotic desserts, try star-spangled meringues with fresh berries, or this simple fresh strawberry pie. For more grain free desserts, try this Grain Free Fresh Berry Cake or Strawberry Fool. 

How to Make This Red White and Blue Dessert

I’ve made this easy Fourth of July fruit tart several times, with a couple of different types of crust. 

I’ve tried a short dough crust, which is more like cookie dough. There’s pie dough, which won’t be as sweet as the short dough crust. And there’s graham cracker crust, which is the original recipe from Nigella Lawson. My latest incarnation is this nut-based, grain-free crust.

The most difficult part of the recipe is letting the pie chill for a couple of hours before you decorate it, so be sure to prepare it in the morning if you plan on serving it later in the day.

For the gluten-free nut crust, simply pulse the nuts, butter and a few dates in a food processor.

Press the mixture into a greased pie plate or tart pan with a removable bottom.

Bake the nut crust at 350F for about 10-15 minutes to set it. Allow it to cool to room temperature.

While the crust is cooling, prepare the filling (which takes about 3 minutes!) by combining cream cheese and lemon curd. Wash and slice the fruit. 

Spread the filling into the cooled pie crust.

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’d like to make this red, white and blue fruit tart with the original graham cracker crust, follow these instructions:

• Pulse 27 sheets of graham crackers and one 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 the recipe below for filling and finish.

Red, White and Blue Berry Fruit Tart

Cynthia

This no-bake fruit tart is adapted from Nigella Lawson. It is one of my favorite patriotic dessert recipes! (I've included the original crust recipe for those who do not need a grain free/gluten free option. 

4.96 from 64 votes

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 3 hours hrs

Total Time 3 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, English

Servings 8 servings

Calories 535 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 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. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 535kcalCarbohydrates: 36gProtein: 17gFat: 39gSaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 26mgSodium: 558mgPotassium: 396mgFiber: 4gSugar: 28gVitamin A: 270IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 246mgIron: 1.5mg

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