Passion fruit is such a sexy, luscious, fragrant fruit. It is one of my absolute favorite flavors for dessert. During the summer, my family gets to harvest their home-grown passion fruit. Traditionally, Asian rarely make desserts at home, so they can sometimes be at a loss on what to make with all this passion fruit. Here is where I come in and benefit from the plentiful harvest from my lovely family members. And this passion fruit mango tart is the perfect celebration of passion fruit.
This passion fruit mango tart is a celebration of summer, tropical flavors, and just true deliciousness. It involves multiple steps, so it is definitely a labor of love. But it is so worth it. Everyone who has ever had this tart has loved it. And I hope that your loved ones also appreciate the time and effort that went into your passion fruit mango tart.
I have to acknowledge that I borrowed heavily from the talented Dominique Ansel for his vanilla sable recipe as my tart crust and tweaked it just a little.
You should probably make the different components of the tart the day before you intend to serve it. Creme patissiere and passion fruit curd need time to cool and to set for structural integrity.
How do I prevent my tropical passion fruit mango tart from becoming soggy?
Assemble the tart right before serving for best results. Otherwise, you can add a layer of white chocolate to the base of the tart crust and allow that to set before layering in your creme patissiere and passion fruit curd.
What kind of mango should I use?
Kent mangoes are one of the most delicious mangoes out there, with limited veins and tons of sweet fragrant flesh. If you cannot find those, then I would recommend using Champagne mangoes.
How do I make a smooth creme patissiere?
Make sure not to overcook your custard, because it will lead to curdling and lumps
Use butter to finish to ensure smoothness
Always always run your creme patissiere through a sieve after cooking. There are bound to be some lumps in the cooking process. Passing it through a sieve will get all those minor lumps out.
How long does creme patissiere need to set?
At least 4 hours, but for best results, overnight is best.
For other passion fruit recipes, check out my passion fruit panna cotta.
Tropical Passion Fruit Mango Tart
Equipment
- 1 food processor
- 1 whisk
- 1 tart pan
Ingredients
Vanilla Tart Shell
- 185 g all purpose flour
- 45 g confectioner's sugar
- 50 g corn starch
- 1 g salt
- 3 g vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 130 g unsalted butter
- 1 egg
Passion fruit curd
- 180 g strained passion fruit juice
- 1/8 c granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/2 tbsp corn starch
Creme Patissiere -Vanilla Pastry Cream
- 2 cups milk
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 2 1/2 tbsp corn starch
- 1 vanilla bean seeds scraped
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 large egg
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
Fruit Topping
- 1 Kent mango thinly sliced
Instructions
Vanilla Tart Shell
- Combine flour, confectioners' sugar, cornstarch, salt, and butter into a large food processor. Pulse for about 30 seconds or until butter becomes pea sized clumps. Scrape the bowl as needed.
- Beat egg and combine with vanilla paste. Then add into the butter/flour mixture. Pulse until just combined and a dough ball begins to form.
- Scrape the edges of the bowl and turn mixture onto a clean surface. Mix residual flour into the dough. Then form into a flat disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before use.
- Before baking, thaw for at least 10-15 minutes to allow dough to be pliable enough to roll.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Sprinkle a clean surface with flour. Roll dough until it is about 1/4 inch thick. Place onto your tart shell, pushing the dough onto the edges of the pan. Remove excess dough. Refrigerate dough for another 15 minutes to allow it to hold shape. Then line the top of the tart shell with parchment paper and fill with beans.
- Bake tart shell at 350 degrees 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove parchment paper and beans from tart shell and check for doneness. The bottom of the tart shell should be golden brown and crisp. If it is still soft, turn oven to 300 degrees, and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown and crisp.
- When tart shell is golden brown and crisp, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely, at least 30 minutes.
Passion Fruit Curd
- Mix passion fruit juice, granulated sugar, egg yolks, salt, and corn starch with a whisk.
- Heat mixture in a large saucepan over medium heat, constantly whisking.
- When you see ribbons appear from whisking, turn off the heat.
- Whisk in butter. Then place mixture into a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, making sure that the wrap covers and makes contact with the surface of the passion fruit curd. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Creme Patissiere-Vanilla Pastry Cream
- Split vanilla bean in half length-wise and use a knife the scrape the seeds off. Place into a large saucepan. Add milk and vanilla bean paste to saucepan. Heat on medium heat until just about to boil.
- Mix together sugar, salt, corn starch, egg yolks, and egg. Whisk until well mixed.
- When milk is heated, slowly add milk into the egg mixture allowing it to slowly warm up/temper the egg mixture. Whisk constantly.
- Then add the egg and milk mixture back into the saucepan and heat on medium heat. Whisk constantly while heating. Cook on medium heat until ribbons begin to appear in the pastry cream. Then turn off heat and whisk in butter.
- Strain pastry cream through a sieve. Cover the pastry cream with plastic wrap, allowing the plastic to touch the top of the pastry cream. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.
Cutting Mango
- Standing mango up, cut the mango length-wise on either side of the seed, removing the seed. Using a knife, peel the mango and thinly cut mango segments into thin slices. Slices should resemble half-moons. Separate mango slices by size.
Tart Assembly
- Place tart shell on serving platter.
- Add passion fruit curd onto the bottom of the tart shell, spreading into an even layer.
- Then fill the tart shell with pastry cream until it reaches the top of the tart shell. Spread evenly.
- Then top with mango. Starting with the outer perimeter of the tart shell, place the largest mango slices in circular pattern. Once that layer is set, move inward and start placing mango slices into another circle. Repeat until you have reached the middle.
