This Vanilla Cream Fruit Tart is perfect for summer BBQs, parties and holidays. It starts with a shortbread crust, covered with sweet vanilla cream, topped with fresh berries and finished off with a simple glaze. It’s a showstopper dessert!

I’m so slow getting this post up today, but I’ve been a little scatterbrained the past few days and haven’t gotten much down around here. My son comes home from his 2-year LDS mission on Wednesday and I’m just a wee-bit excited. I can’t believe how fast these past two years have gone. I honestly feel like we dropped him off at the MTC just a few weeks ago. Life is zooming by faster every day.

I wasn’t sure I’d even get around to posting this week, but with the 4th of July just a few days away, I wanted to share a fun and festive looking dessert that would be perfect for a holiday BBQ.

This Vanilla Cream Fruit Tart is so simple to make and will wow anyone who tries it. It’s a simple shortbread crust, topped with a vanilla creamy layer, fresh berries and a pineapple glaze. It’s not only gorgeous to look at, but it tastes fabulous!

The vanilla cream layer isn’t your typical vanilla custard/pudding layer. It’s melted white chocolate chips, cream, cream cheese and some lemon zest. It’s so, so good.

The great thing about this is how simple it is to make, but it looks like you spent hours on it. And since you can make all of the components ahead of time, it can be assembled pretty quickly and easily.

A FEW TIPS FOR MAKING THIS FRUIT TART:

The shortbread crust can be baked a day ahead. Just cover it and keep it in a cool, dry place. The cream cheese layer can also be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge. Make sure you remember to take it out of the fridge 30 minutes or so before you’re ready to spread it on the crust or it will be too thick to spread. The pineapple glaze can also be made ahead of time and set aside until ready to use.
Don’t fully assemble your fruit tart too early before serving. You can spread the cream cheese layer on several hours before serving this fruit tart, but don’t add the fruit to the top more than a couple hours before you’re ready to serve it.
If you use white chocolate chips be careful when melting them. They don’t melt as easily as chocolate chips. I cook them for 1 minute at 50% power, stir them, then do another minute at 50% power and stir them again. At that point if they’re not fully melted and smooth, I do 15 second increments at 50% until their melted.
Once you add the heavy cream to the melted white chocolate, whisk it quickly and really, really well. Don’t be alarmed if you end up having some tiny pieces of white chocolate that aren’t melted, that just happens when you add something cool/cold to melted chocolate. It’s almost impossible to get it completely smooth.
Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature. It will make a huge difference in how smooth the vanilla cream layer turns out.
If your pineapple glaze has gotten too thick to brush on top of the berries, just whisk in some hot water, a little at a time, until it’s thinned out enough to brush on the berries.

CAN I USE OTHER FRUITS FOR THIS TART?

Sure, you can use anything fruit want, but I would try and avoid fruits that turn brown or tend to “leak.” If you use fruits like mandarin oranges, or canned pineapple make sure you place them in a colander or strainer before using them to get any extra juice off of them. Kiwi, blackberries, peaches, etc. would all be delicious.