I was having fun recipe-developing during work one day, and I was really craving Paris Baguette's mixed berry tarts. I used some leftover almond tart shell to, made some frangipane (almond cream), and diplomat cream (pastry cream mixed with whipped cream) to replicate the delicious fruit tarts from Asian and French bakeries. You can modify this with your own favorite tart shell, pastry cream, or whipped cream recipes.

You can switch out the diplomat for all whipped cream, you can omit the almond cream and switch the almond tart shell to all-wheat if you have allergies, you can change the fruit on top. It's really up to you! This is a guideline of recipes for each component, but I'm not sure the exact amount they make (because I made such a small sample batch).

You can use tart rings (which are expensive and kind of hard to access), but I would imagine it would be easier making this in a greased tart pans with a removable bottom.

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Almond Tart Shell

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• 150 g butter, cubed

• 88 g confectioners' sugar

• 2 g salt

• 1 egg

• 3 g vanilla extract

• 125 g almond flour

• 140 g all-purpose flour

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Frangipane

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• 100 g unsalted butter, softened

• 100 g granulated sugar

• 80 g egg (1 egg + leftover egg white from pastry cream)

• 5 g vanilla extract or rum to taste

• 100 g almond flour

• pinch salt

• 15 g all-purpose flour

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Vanilla Diplomat Cream

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• 130 g milk

• 32 g sugar

• 16 g cornstarch

• Pinch salt

• 33 g heavy cream

• 20 g egg yolks (about 1 yolk)

• 20 g unsalted butter

• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

• 150 g heavy cream

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• Mixed berries or other fruit, washed, cut, and patted dry with paper towels

• Powdered sugar for dusting

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Instructions

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1. For almond tart shell: Preheat oven to 175°C/350°F.

2. Cream together butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy.

3. Add in egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined.

4. Sift almond and all-purpose flour together and mix into the butter mixture until just combined. Do not overmix. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.

5. Roll dough to 1/8-inch thick and cut out circles larger than the size of your molds. Freeze for 10 minutes.

6. Carefully press the circles into your greased molds. The dough is very high in fat and will soften quickly, so you can refrigerate or freeze your dough as needed. Once all the dough is inside the molds, trim off any excess from the top. Keep the tarts in the freezer while you prepare the frangipane.

7. For frangipane: cream together butter and sugar. Add egg and flavorings and mix in until fully combined. Stir in almond flour and all-purpose flour until just combined.

8. Distribute frangipane evenly among the tart shells. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and the frangipane is cooked through (the time really depends on what molds you use and how much frangipane is in each tart).

9. Remove tarts from molds and cool on a wire rack

10. For pastry cream: heat milk in a saucepan until simmering.

11. Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Whisk in first heavy cream, then egg yolks. Slowly whisk in the hot milk mixture to temper to eggs.

12. Return mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat while whisking constantly until thickened. Continue to cook while whisking until there is no more starch taste (boil for 30 seconds). Whisk in butter and vanilla extract until emulsified. Wrap pastry cream in a sheet of plastic wrap and cool for 15 minutes at room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

13. To make the diplomat, smooth out the pastry cream with a rubber spatula in a bowl.

14. Whip the second heavy cream to stiff peaks. Fold in 1/3 of the whipped cream into the pastry cream to lighten the texture, then fold in the remaining until just combined. Keep refrigerated until needed

15. For tart assembly: pipe or spoon mounds of diplomat cream on top of the tart. Place berries around the cream. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

16. Can keep tarts in an airtight container in the fridge for another day.