This gluten free fruit tart is as stunning as it is delicious! It's made with a buttery crust, silky vanilla pastry cream, and topped with your favorite fresh fruits for a light and refreshing flavor. It's a showstopping dessert that's perfect for any fancy occasion. Follow my detailed step-by-step guide to ensure success in the kitchen.

Three small fruit tarts topped with strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and kiwi are served on white plates, surrounded by loose fruit, a fork, and a beige napkin on a marble surface.

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Skill Level: Intermediate because of the number of components.
Shortcut Central: Make the tart shells and vanilla pastry cream up to 2 days in advance.
Flavor Remix: Swap vanilla pastry cream for lemon curd or add citrus zest to the custard.
Allergy Watch: Nut-Free

What I love about this recipe is that you can enjoy it all year round with fruits that are in season. My favorite is a springtime assortment of strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries, which brings a burst of flavor to every bite.

The base of the tart is my homemade gluten-free tart crust which is made from a combination of almond flour and gluten-free 1:1 flour for the perfect tender crumb with a nutty flavor. This recipe will also work great with my gluten-free pie crust recipe. If you don't have a large tart pan, you can use mini tart pans to make 6-8 mini tarts instead, depending on the size of the tart rings.

I make the pastry cream from scratch with fresh vanilla beans for authentic flavor and egg yolks for a rich and silky smooth filling. Plus I use cornstarch so you can adjust the thickness to your liking.

Ingredient Notes

Gluten-Free Tart Dough:

Gluten-free 1:1 Flour- This recipe should work with any type of 1:1 all-purpose flour. I've tested my homemade gluten-free 1:1 flour blend and Bob's Red Mill 1:1 flour and they both work great.
Almond Flour- Make sure to use fine almond flour instead of coarse almond meal.
Unsalted Butter- If you're using salted butter, skip adding additional kosher salt. Use cold butter.
Powdered Sugar- NOT granulated sugar.
Egg- To make things easy I have adjusted the weights of the dry ingredients to be compatible with one large egg.

Vanilla Pastry Cream:

Whole Milk- Whole milk makes a thick and creamy pastry cream, but you can also use 2% milk or any plant-based milk.
Granulated Sugar- To sweeten the custard.
Cornstarch- For thickening. I used about 4 tablespoons, but you can use any amount from 3-6 tablespoons to adjust the consistency of your pastry cream.
Unsalted Butter- Let the butter soften at room temperature.
Egg Yolks- We just need the yolks for a rich custard.
Vanilla Bean- Substitute with vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.

Six labeled bowls containing unsalted butter, gluten-free 1:1 flour, salt, almond flour, powdered sugar, and an egg are arranged on a light surface.

Baking ingredients on a counter: whole milk, sugar, cornstarch, unsalted butter, eggs, fruit, vanilla bean, tart crusts, and apricot jam.

Fruit Topping:

Assorted Fruits- Use your favorite fruits and berries. I personally like adding fresh raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and kiwi. In the fall I prefer to make my gluten-free apple tart rather than use apples in this recipe.
Apricot Jam- Adds a subtle sweetness and glossy finish over the fruits.

💭 Dairy-Free Variation

To make a dairy-free fruit tart, you can substitute whole milk with any plant-based milk and swap the butter with vegan butter.

⏲️How to Make Gluten-Free Fruit Tarts

A step-by-step visual guide for making a gluten-free fruit tart. You can skip to the recipe for the full written instructions.

Make the Gluten-Free Tart Crust

A four-step collage shows flour in a food processor, cold butter added, mixture crumbled by hand, and a dough forming; an egg and butter are also pictured on the counter.

The mixture should look like sand. Then, add the egg and mix only until the dough comes together.

Four-step process of preparing dough: chilling in a bag, rolling out with a pin, cutting circles with a cutter, and placing shaped dough in a pan with parchment paper.

You can add parchment paper on top of the dough to prevent it from sticking when rolling. Roll the dough until it's ¼ inches thick. Bake the tart shells for 20-30 minutes.

Press any cracks together or patch with extra dough to avoid any leaks when adding the filling.

Make the Vanilla Pastry Cream

Four-step process of mixing ingredients in a metal bowl: heated milk, whisked batter, sifting flour, and pouring milk into batter.

Let the vanilla beans steep in the milk for 10 to 15 minutes to get all the vanilla flavor. When adding the warm milk to the egg mixture, make sure to add it slowly while continuously whisking to avoid curdling.

Four images show steps for making pastry cream: whisking in a pot, thickened cream, chilling with plastic wrap, and dipping a strawberry into the finished cream.

Add the butter and whisk until you reach a thick and smooth texture. Covering the surface of the pastry cream with plastic wrap helps prevent any skin from forming. Then, chill for a few hours before using.

Assemble the Fruit Tarts

A tart shell filled with cream sits on a wooden board next to a bowl of mixed berries, a glass of orange glaze, a bowl of cream, and a beige cloth.

Allow the tart shell to cool completely before filling it with the chilled pastry cream. Fill the shell to about ⅔ full to leave room for the fruit.

A tart topped with assorted berries and kiwi sits on a wooden board beside a bowl of fruit, custard, and a bowl of glaze.

Slice and arrange your choice of seasonal fruits on top of the pastry cream.

A pastry brush applies glaze to a fruit tart topped with strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and kiwi, on a wooden board beside a bowl of mixed berries and glaze.

For a beautiful, glossy finish, gently brush the fruit with a warm apricot glaze using a pastry brush.

Recipe Tips

When blind baking, make sure the edges of the tart are fully covered with parchment paper to prevent them from browning too much. If the crust looks pale after removing the weights, you can bake it for a few more minutes until golden brown.
You can remove the tart from the pan as soon as it has completely cooled. If you're nervous about cracking it, you can fill it with pastry cream first before removing it from the tart pan.
Whisk the pastry cream vigorously to remove any lumps.
Pat the fruits dry with a paper towel before arranging them over the tart to remove excess moisture.

Make Ahead and Storing

Make Ahead: Tart shells and pastry cream can be prepared 1 to 2 days in advance. Assemble with fruit the day of serving.

Storing: Store the assembled tart covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Freezing: Do not freeze the assembled tart or the pastry cream.

📖 Recipe

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This recipe originally appeared on my website Peel with Zeal.