Summer Fruit Tart

My Aunt came over today to see me, the girls and my Mom before she leaves for France for the month.  Lucky Duck!  I wanted to make something special, so I made a fruit tart for brunch and served it with tea.  It was very good, but as with anything, it wasn't completely perfect.  However, I remember Julia Child said that even if something doesn't work exactly right, do not apologize.  So, here's my fruit tart saga that started out great, went a bit nuts, but then worked out in the end!

I used the almond tart shell recipe from Woman's Day.  I wanted something I didn't have to refrigerate, put weights on, or take a ton of time to make.  This recipe was really easy, but I will warn you (as with any tart crust) it is very fragile!  Just follow the recipe until you're done making the tart shell.  Then cool it in the pan on a wire rack.  From there, this is where I fell into some trouble.  I took it out of the tart pan and it was working and looking perfect.  I then went to place it into a tart serving dish that I was given for my wedding 11 years ago and have never used.  It turned out that the tart shell was bigger than the dish and when I placed it in the dish, it just crumbled apart. Every time I touched it, it got worse!  The remedy would be to just place it on a plate next time.  Live and learn!  Seeing as this was 11pm last night, I was not going to make another one.  Besides, it was just going to crumble when we cut it anyway.  And, thankfully my guests are very understanding, forgiving, and thankful for everything.  I knew I was in good hands!

This morning, I put some apricot preserves in a small saucepan with a little bit of water to thin and heated it over med-high heat.  Then I brushed the crust with the preserves so that the fruit wouldn't seep through and make it soggy.  I put a layer of lemon curd on the bottom and then proceeded to layer my fruit.  I used thin sliced peaches, kiwi, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries.  I finished it off by brushing a coat of the apricot preserves over the top of the fruit layer.  This gave it a glossy finish and it looked beautiful.  Surprisingly, it cut very nicely and each piece came out well.  I think between the preserves and the lemon curd it acted as a glue for the crust. Over all it was a success!

And for good measure, I'll throw in a picture of my cuties!