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This Crostata di Frutta is such a beautiful, classic Italian dessert. Made with flaky and sweet shortcrust pastry, vanilla pastry cream, and topped with fresh fruit and apricot jam. Fresh, light, and delicious!
Crostata is a super popular dessert in Italy and they come in so many different varieties from a jam filling, chocolate, and fresh fruit.
This tart is filled with Crema Pasticcera (Italian pastry cream) flavoured with vanilla and lemon zest, then it’s topped with fresh fruit and a fruity jam glaze.
It’s so elegant, delicious and looks so impressive! You can top this tart with whatever fruit you like so you can get as creative and have fun with it!
Ingredients you need
The ingredients to make Crostata di Frutta are so simple and easy, see the breakdown below that tells you exactly what you need to make shortcrust pastry and pastry cream.
- Shortcrust pastry – flour, sugar, cold butter, egg, baking powder and salt.
- Crema Pasticcera (Italian pastry cream) – eggs, sugar, cornstarch, full-fat milk & vanilla
- Fresh fruit – you can use a mix of whatever fruit you like from berries to kiwi fruit, banana, peaches and apples.
- Apricot jam – this is used to brush over the fruit to give it a beautiful glaze.
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Pin ItHow to make Crostata di Frutta – step by step
To make the pastry cream
Warm the milk and vanilla in a saucepan then set aside (make sure it’s just warm and not hot).
Mix the egg yolks and sugar together until combined then add the cornstarch and mix it thoroughly (photos 1-4).
Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg mixture whilst whisking constantly to avoid any lumps (photo 5).
Once incorporated, pour the egg and milk mixture back into the saucepan and heat it on a low heat (photos 6 & 7).
Stir the mixture constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture is very thick in consistency (about 10 minutes) (photos 8 & 9).
Once thickened, pour the pastry cream into a clean bowl and place plastic wrap directly on top to stop a skin forming (photo 10). Let the mixture cool then place in the fridge until ready to use.
To make the pastry
Sift the flour into a large bowl then add the rest of the dry ingredients, stir to combine (photo 1).
Add the egg and butter and cut it into the flour mixture with a spatula or pastry scraper to form rough crumbs (photos 2-4).
Start to bring the mixture together with your hands to form a dough. Knead the pastry until all the flour is fully absorbed and it becomes a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes-1 hour (photos 5-8).
After the dough has chilled remove from the fridge and roll out using a rolling pin until ¼ inch (½ cm) thick (photo 9).
Lay the pastry over a tart or pie tin tucking in the sides until it fits evenly. Roll the rolling pin over the tart case to cut the edges (you can also trim the edge with a knife). Prick the base with a fork (photos 9 -14).
Fill the tart with baking beads or raw rice to weight the pastry down and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Let the pastry case cool completely (photo 15 & 16).
To assemble the fruit tart
Fill the cooled pastry case with the pastry cream and smooth the top with a spatula then arrange your fruit of choice all over the top of the tart (photo 17 & 18).
Heat the jam and water in a saucepan until the jam has melted, let it cool for a minute then brush over the fruit.
Keep the tart in the fridge until ready to serve.
Top tips and recipe FAQs
- Making pastry – See our in-depth guide for making Italian shortcrust pastry complete with video, instructions and tips.
- Blind baking – You can use baking beads or raw rice to blind bake your tart crust it’s important to weigh down the pastry while it cooks.
- The filling – Let the pastry cream cool completely and thicken before using.
The tart will keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days, make sure to keep it covered. Do not freeze the tart as pastry cream tends to split after freezing.
More Italian desserts you might like
- Fruit Jam Crostata – classic recipe
- Authentic Tiramisu
- Torta della Nonna (Italian custard tart)
- Ciambella allo Yogurt (yogurt bundt cake)
If you’ve tried this Crostata di Frutta or any other recipe on the blog please let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Step By Step Photos Above
Most of our recipes come with step by step photos, helpful tips and tricks to make it perfectly first time and even video!
Crostata di Frutta (Italian Fruit Tart)
Equipment
- Baking parchment
- Baking beads or raw rice
- Tart pan (8 inch)
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 2 cups flour, 00 flour or unbleached all-purpose (250g)
- ½ cup caster sugar, golden or white (80g)
- 8.5 tbsp cold butter, cubed (120g)
- 1 large egg
- Zest of 1 lemon
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt
For the pastry cream
- 5 large egg yolks
- ⅓ cup sugar, (70g)
- 1/2 cup cornstarch, (60g)
- peel of one lemon, (kept whole not grated)
- 2.5 cups full-fat milk
- ½ tsp vanilla paste or extract
Toppings
- Mixed fresh fruit, e.g strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, mandarins, kiwi fruit
- 2 tbsp Apricot jam
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
To make the pastry cream
- Warm the milk, lemon peel and vanilla in a saucepan then set aside (make sure it’s just warm and not hot).
- Mix the egg yolks and sugar together until combined then add the cornstarch and mix it thoroughly.
- Remove the lemon peel then slowly pour the warm milk into the egg mixture whilst whisking constantly to avoid any lumps.
- Once incorporated, pour the egg and milk mixture back into the saucepan and heat it on a medium-low heat.
- Stir the mixture constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture is very thick in consistency (about 10 minutes). If you find it isn't thickening turn the heat up but keep stirring the mixture to avoid the eggs from scrambling (use a whisk to get rid of any small lumps if needed).
- Once thickened, pour the pastry cream into a clean bowl and place plastic wrap directly on top to stop a skin forming.
- Let the mixture cool then place in the fridge until ready to use.
To make the pastry
- Sift the flour into a large bowl then add the rest of the dry ingredients, stir to combine.
- Add the egg and butter and cut it into the flour mixture with a spatula or pastry scraper to form rough crumbs.
- Start to bring the mixture together with your hands to form a dough. Knead the pastry until all the flour is fully absorbed and it becomes a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes-1 hour.
Blind bake the pastry
- Pre-heat the oven 350F/180C.
- After the dough has chilled remove from the fridge and roll out using a rolling pin until ¼ inch (½ cm) thick.
- Lay the pastry over a tart or pie tin tucking in the sides until it fits evenly. Roll the rolling pin over the tart case to cut the edges (you can also trim the edge with a knife).
- Prick the base with a fork then top with a piece of baking parchment. Fill the tart with baking beads or raw rice to weight the pastry down and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Let the pastry case cool completely.
To assemble the fruit tart
- Fill the cooled pastry case with the pastry cream and smooth the top with a spatula then arrange your fruit of choice all over the top of the tart.
- Heat the jam and water in a saucepan until the jam has melted, let it cool for a minute then brush over the fruit.
- Keep the tart in the fridge until ready to serve.
Video
Notes
- Making pastry – See our in-depth guide for making Italian shortcrust pastry complete with video, instructions and tips.
- Blind baking – You can use baking beads or raw rice to blind bake your tart crust it’s important to weigh down the pastry while it cooks.
- The filling – Let the pastry cream cool completely and thicken before using.
- Storage – This tart will keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days. Do not freeze.
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I can’t wait to try it
This is a great recipe! Grew up in an Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn and this was the tart I’d always request for my birthday growing up. Use this recipe over and over to bring to holidays and gatherings
Headrest part is the filling. First few times I overcooked and it got clumpy, or cooked it just right but put it immediately in the fridge after and it got clumpy. Leaving it out to cool before putting it in the fridge seemed to work.
Thank you so much for this recipe 👌🇮🇹❤😋