Baking a tart is fun but the most exciting part is usually creating the fillings. There’s a whole range of flavours you can explore to make the fillings, as there are no set rules and you can let your imagination take over. Tart fillings can be sweet or savoury, simple or complex, and this makes them a versatile option for any occasion.
The most common tart fillings include basic custard, a creamy filling made with milk, eggs, sugar, and flour or cornflour and often flavoured with vanilla. Lemon curd, a tart and tangy filling made from lemon juice, sugar, eggs, and butter, or chocolate ganache, a rich, smooth, dense mixture of chocolate and cream, are also commonly made. There can be slight alterations to this by adding liqueur to chocolate or using white chocolate instead of milk or dark chocolate.
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Using berries such as strawberry, blueberry, mulberry or citrus fruits as tart fillings is also a common practice. Whether you use fresh fruits, custards, ganaches, or savoury vegetables, the key to a delicious tart is balancing flavours and textures. Experiment with some unusual flavours and maybe you’ll find your signature flavour.
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Tamarind
In India, we love tamarind. Also called Imli, it is a tropical fruit with a complex flavour profile. It is mainly tangy but also slightly sweet. It is often used in Indian and Southeast Asian cuisine. You can make a tamarind and ginger tart. The filling can be created with tamarind paste, ginger, and a touch of honey or brown sugar for sweetness. You can also try a tamarind chutney tart. For this, use a savoury tamarind chutney as a base, topped with spiced, boiled chickpeas and fresh herbs.
Gooseberry
Gooseberries are small, tart berries that come in green, red, or purple varieties. Different varieties of gooseberries are found in various parts of India. They have a sharp, tangy flavour but don’t worry, they will mellow with cooking. You can make a delicious variation of the custard tart with these gooseberries. For the Gooseberry Custard Tart, combine cooked gooseberries with a creamy custard filling in a pastry shell. The gooseberry will cut the sweetness of the tart with its tanginess, perfectly balancing flavours.
Sea Buckthorn
Sea buckthorn grows abundantly in Ladakh, India. The berries are bright orange and have a tart, citrusy flavour with hints of pineapple and passionfruit. The berries are considered very healthy as they are filled with nutrients. To make a sea buckthorn tart, you will need to make a sea buckthorn curd or mousse to fill a tart shell. Add a sweet cream or meringue topping to balance the tartness. You can also pair the sea buckthorn with a sweet almond cream filling.
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Passion Fruit
Passion fruit has a vibrant, tropical flavour that is both sweet and tart, with a slight hint of tartness. Various combinations of fillings work well with the versatile flavour of passion fruit. You can make a passion fruit curd tart. The passion fruit curd can be made with eggs, sugar, butter and passion fruit juice. Coconut and passion fruit also make a delicious combination. Another variation to try is passion fruit and coconut tart, where you combine passion fruit with a coconut cream filling.
Cherry
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When cherries are in season, they work as the most versatile ingredients for tarts. You can also pick sour cherries to make your tart. Their sharp, tangy flavour works with cream or custard, but it is best paired with rich, dark and decadent chocolate. The flavours of bitterness from the chocolate and tartness from the cherry create a beautiful balance on the palate. Choosing a sweet, smooth milk chocolate may also work well. In this case, the sweetness will counter the tartness of the cherry.
Cranberry
Along with their sourness, cranberries have a slightly bitter flavour that is typically associated with winter desserts. Surprisingly, using orange, which is also sweet and sour and cranberry together works. For a Cranberry Orange Tart, combine cranberries with orange zest and juice for a tart and vibrant filling. You can also pair the extreme sweetness of white chocolate with cranberries to make a cranberry white chocolate tart.
Rhubarb
Rhubarb has a tart flavour that is often balanced with sugar in desserts. It pairs well with strawberries, but it can also stand alone. You can use a rhubarb compote or curd with a creamy custard filling or pair rhubarb with ginger in a rhubarb and ginger tart if you want to spice things up a bit.
Green Apple
Green apples have a crisp texture and tart flavour. How about a green apple and caramel tart? These apples aren’t sweet like their red cousins. The sweet caramel, with its gooey texture, will balance both the crispness and the sourness of the green apple. If you want to experiment with flavours and aromatics, you may want to try a green apple and rosemary art. Savoury, sweet and flavourful.