Mandala Tart of Summer Fruits
Raspberry picking. Careful not to damage the vines, avoiding the stickers that surround the berries, they stick like velcro. Somehow still managing your share of scratches from the prickly vines, reaching over and under the leaves for the juiciest ones, swatting mosquitoes after the rain, and shooing the eager bees seeking their sweetness. Is it worth it???
Picking Raspberries, One for the Bowl, Two for Me
The first pop of the warm-with-the-sun, plump, sweet-sour fruit in your mouth. “Just testing…” Especially when you talk Tara into helping pick and then she makes a Summer Fruit Tart or raspberry jam with homemade bread.
Late Summer Ruby Red Raspberries
Mandala of Summer Fruit Tart
Adapted from a recipe by Tara Riley
Tart Crust:
Two 9-inch refrigerated premade piecrusts (in a roll.) This is the easy part. Tara makes hers from scratch.
12-in tart pan
Fresh Fruit Filling:
6-8 fresh peaches, depending on size
1 ½ pint raspberries
1 pint blueberries
½ cup apricot jam
⅓ cup flour
⅔ cup sugar
2 tablespoons sugar, to sprinkle on top
2 teaspoons cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Prepare Tart Patchwork Crust:
Bring piecrust to room temperature. Open one piecrust and roll out. Open other piecrust, fold and cut circle beyond the midpoint to expand the first crust. Slice and patch.
Patch the Crust
Seam Piecrust Shells and Trim Excess Dough
Place in tart pan, gently press piecrust seams together and press sides in, trim over-hang. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.
Fruit Coating :
In a medium size bowl whisk flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg.
The Fruit Filling:
Wash peaches. Slice peaches into ⅛ inch thick slices into large bowl. Lightly turn peach slices in bowl of coating.
Sugar and Spice Makes Everything…
Place peach slices after you coat them. Start on outside row— tight and overlapping— around tart crust. Two rows.
Wash and sort blueberries. Lightly roll blueberries in coating and place in center of tart. Heap, they shrink.
Heap On The Blueberries
Rinse and sort raspberries. Lightly roll raspberries in coating and place over blueberries in center and dot between rows of peaches. Fill in any gaps. Sprinkle top of the tart with sugar.
Dot with Raspberries
Place the tart on the middle rack in 425°F. oven for 15 minutes. So crust doesn’t get soggy.
Reduce the temperature to 375°F. and bake for 45-50 minutes.
While the tart bakes and drives you crazy with the great scents of summer, make the apricot glaze.
Apricot Glaze:
Mix the apricot jam in a small bowl with 2 tablespoons warm water until smooth enough to flow, press through strainer. Set aside.
Strain Apricot Jam for Apricot Glaze
Remove tart from the oven and place on wire rack. Pour apricot glaze over fruit filling for a lovely shiny glaze and a —”Just like the bakery”—finish.
Transport the Mandala of Summer Fruit to the party in the pan. Remove sides when ready to serve.
Sunburst of Summer’s Bounty
A whole new slant on giving someone the raspberries.
Even if raspberry tart rhymes with….
Italian Handful 
Wow! That looks great I’m thinking this would be good for the fly-inn I could shape the fruit in the pan like a plane? The peaches maybe and put the berries on the outside to fill it in … do you think that would work?
You have to use a tart pan because of lifting it out. What about the stuffed bread in the shape of a plane???
That sure was a big hit at the last party I didn’t even get any and you made 4 loaves ! Can I make it ahead?
Yep! But no guarantees they w ill last after you make them! 🙂
So beautiful. Wish I had some to taste. Yum!
From the taste and beauty of this dessert, I would have never guessed the recipe was so easy, definitely want to try this one.