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If the world is divided into cake people and pie people, there’s a special subset of pie person that’s a tart person.
The difference between pies and tarts is murky. Both are round with crust and some kind of sweet or savory filling.
One can make generalities: pie pans have sloped sides and tend to be deeper; tart pans have straight (sometimes fluted) sides and are shallower and often have removable bottoms.
Pie crusts tend to be flaky while tart crusts tend to be short and crumbly. Pies sometimes have top crusts and tarts never do.
Yet there are deep dish tart pans that are also labeled pie and quiche pans, which inhabit the gray area and blur the distinctions.
Still, my own personal way of dividing the two is aesthetic. Pies are rustic and homey (galettes are pies), whereas tarts are elegant. They slice cleanly and feel just a little bit fancy.
And here is a collection of my favorite tart recipes. (And don’t sleep on my favorite easy shortbread tart crust!)
Tart Recipes
Here are some delightful tart recipes and three simple standalone tart crust recipes. From chocolate and peanut butter to passion fruit to caramel pumpkin, there's a tart here for every special occasion.
This chocolate peanut butter tart is like a giant peanut butter cup with a crisp chocolate shortbread crust, a light peanut butter mousse filling with whipped cream and crème fraîche (that I could eat with a spoon on it's own). I like to use Skippy (or a similar style) creamy peanut butter rather than an all natural peanut butter because I find it blends better. I recommend using a high quality cocoa powder in the crust like Valrhona or Droste rather than the really cheap stuff (it's a place where splurging a little makes a big difference). I go for a chocolate in the 60-60% cacao range in the ganache, but it will work with any percentage of milk or dark chocolate you like (but I'd avoid chocolate chips which are made with additives that prevent melting smoothly). This tart is rich, so I like to serve it in small slices (10-12 slices per tart) but you do you.
This plum custard tart is fragrant with fresh ginger, orange zest, and cinnamon. It works best with small, oblong Italian prune plums, but other plums can be substituted if you keep the weight the same. Larger plums should be sliced into quarters or sixths.
The custard filling is a simple mixture of crème fraîche, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla that gets baked in the oven.
This tart is best on the day it's made, but it will keep reasonably well, refrigerated for another few days.
This caramel pumpkin tart is a spin on a traditional pumpkin pie. The caramel makes the flavor fuller and the texture lighter than the traditional version.
Don't be afraid of making caramel. Just keep an eye on it once you get started and be swift and decisive when it's time to remove it from the heat.
Don't be tempted to skip the step of straining the filling. It's essential to the lush, smooth texture of the filling.
I like to serve it with whipped cream.
This passion fruit tart is one of my all-time favorite desserts. It's like a lemon tart (or lemon meringue pie) but better. The tart crust has a lighter, airier texture than most because of the long creaming time. This makes it more delicate and rustic than some might prefer, but I love it. That said, if you have go-to tart crust or pâte sucrée, feel free to use it. I tend to use frozen passion fruit puree for this. It's often available at Mexican grocery stores and at some big chains. I usually use Goya brand, but I'd recommend sticking to a brand that lists passion fruit as the only ingredient. (You can also order it online.) If you have fresh passion fruit, though, you can absolutely use them. Just slice open the fruit, scoop out the pulp and remove the seeds and use it here.
This tart doesn't need any adornment, really, but I like to top it with some lightly sweetened whipped cream.
You'll need a 9.5-in tart pan and a half sheet pan for this recipe.
This cranberry curd tart uses a press-in shortbread crust inspired by one Alice Medrich uses in everything. This one has a bit of orange zest and powdered sugar to keep it tender. The cranberry curd itself is a riff on one I've been making for years that's rounded out with a generous splash of vanilla, some freshly squeezed orange juice from the orange you just zested, and an optional splash of any orange liqueur you like (but don't bother going out to buy Grand Marnier or Dry Curacao just for this). The tart crust can be made and baked up to two days ahead, and the curd can be cooked and chilled up to a week in advance, you can then assemble and bake the tart on the day (or day before) you want to eat it. The meringue is totally optional, but because the tart leaves you with extra egg whites from the curd, it's easy to go that extra step and add the meringue. The amount of meringue isn't as much what you would typically do for a towering lemon meringue pie, but it's plenty for piping decoratively on the top (and enough to cover the whole top with dots like you see pictured if you wanted to do that). You'll need a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom for this recipe.
In this banana custard tart, bananas are steeped in a cream and sugar mixture to infuse the banana flavor, and then the bananas are strained out to make a silky smooth custard.
This tart uses my favorite easy chocolate shortbread crust, which is a cinch to make.
It also gets topped with brown sugar Italian meringue, which conveniently uses up the egg whites left over from the custard filling. It's easier to separate eggs when they are cold, so separate these straight out of the refrigerator.
I like to use dark brown sugar here for the extra molasses flavor. The nutmeg helps bring out the banana flavor. Freshly grated nutmeg is worth the trouble if you have a microplane.
You can make the crust up to a day ahead of time. You can make the meringue while the tart is chilling.
This works with a 9- or 9.5-inch tart pan.
This tart uses a press-in shortbread crust inspired by one Alice Medrich uses in everything. This one has a bit of lime zest for fragrance and flavor and powdered sugar to keep it tender.
The lemon ginger curd itself is a riff on one I've been making for years—that one uses Meyer lemons, whereas this one calls for the more commonly available Eureka lemons. The fussiest part is grating the ginger to squeeze out enough juice. A ceramic ginger grater or microplane zester makes this job doable.
The tart crust can be made and baked up to two days ahead, and the curd can be cooked and chilled up to a week in advance, you can then assemble and bake the tart on the day (or day before) you want to eat it.
The meringue is totally optional, but because the tart leaves you with extra egg whites from the curd, it's easy to go that extra step and add the meringue. The amount of meringue isn't as much what you would typically do for a towering lemon meringue pie, but it's plenty for piping decoratively on the top (and enough to cover the whole top with dots like you see pictured if you wanted to do that). You'll need a 9-inch or 9.5-inch tart pan with a removable bottom for this recipe.
The filling of this tart tastes like Thai iced tea sweetened with condensed milk. The crust here is unconventional. It’s salty and crispy from cornflakes and rich from almonds with some more Thai tea flavor and a hit of sour from the citric acid. This crust is gluten free if you make it with a gluten free corn cereal (the classic cornflakes are sweetened with malt syrup, which contains gluten, but there are many gluten free variations in the cereal aisle these days). You should be able to find the Thai tea and tamarind concentrate in most Asian grocery stores (I found them at Golden Pacific in Andersonville) and I’m sure you can find them online if you don’t have a local source. I found citric acid at the Middle Eastern Bakery (also in Andersonville) and the prepared dulce de leche at Edgewater Produce. It’s worth exploring ethnic grocery stores in your area for these ingredients, but I’m sure you can order everything online. None of it should be too hard to find. This needs to freeze for at least 3 hours and then thaw for at least three hours before serving, so plan ahead. I found it easiest to make everything except the lemon mascarpone the day before, let it freeze overnight, thaw in the fridge during the day, and then pipe on the lemon mascarpone within a few hours of serving for best appearance. You’ll need a tart pan with a removable bottom for this to come out cleanly. I used a 14×4.5-inch rectangular tart pan like this but it would also work in a standard 9-inch round tart pan like this.
This shortbread tart crust is pretty much foolproof. It's a press-in crust that's a simple mixture of flour, confectioners' sugar, salt, melted butter, and a little bit of vanilla. It's easy to make and doesn't require any rolling or chilling or any special equipment (beyond a tart pan itself).
It's a versatile crust that will work with any standard tart recipe.
The tart crust can be made and baked up to two days ahead. You'll need a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom for this recipe.
This is one of the simplest tart crusts out there. It's just a simple mixture of gingersnap cookie crumbs and melted butter pressed into a tart pan.
It works with store-bought gingersnaps or homemade ones (if they're crisp and dry). There's no need to use anything particularly fancy.
This chocolate shortbread tart crust is pretty much foolproof. It's a press-in crust that's a simple mixture of flour, confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, salt, melted butter, and a little bit of vanilla. It's easy to make and doesn't require any rolling or chilling or any special equipment (beyond a tart pan itself).
It's a versatile crust that will work with any standard tart recipe where you want a chocolate crust.
The cocoa powder you use will make a difference here. Look for one that's labeled Dutch-process cocoa, which means it's been alkalized and tends to have a richer, more straightforward chocolate flavor than natural cocoa powders.
It's worth splurging on the cocoa powder if you can. Droste is a great option that's widely available in supermarkets, and Valrhona is my all-time favorite even though it's definitely a splurge. But use any Dutch-process cocoa powder you like.
The tart crust can be made and baked up to two days ahead. You'll need a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom for this recipe.