Tart

Sweet-tart cherries elevate the otherwise straightforward custard, and buttermilk lends a welcome tang.

When making the candied almonds, stir them until the caramel transforms into a dry, crystallized coating.

This zabaione (zabaglione) and lemongrass ice cream dessert is adapted from Chef Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy. It is his unique take on a lemon tart, served upside down and smashed. According to Chef Bottura, "this dessert pokes fun at our daily striving for perfection and pristine beauty. I love the dynamics of a lemon tart but hate all the fuss—cream decorations and stubborn crusts. To get around all that nonsense, we purposefully crushed our tart. Of course, it isn’t just a one-liner but full of flavored experience from the most fragile crust to the peaks of tart, sour, sweet, cured, and candied lemon on the plate." This recipe makes 2 large tarts: You can make 2 and freeze 1 (keeping all elements separate in the freezer and assembling just before serving) or you can halve the ingredients.

Tarte Tatin—Josh's all-time favorite dessert!—is a classic French upside-down apple tart that is prepared from start to finish in just one pan. It starts with sugar that cooks in the pan until it's caramelized, and then the apples are added and cooked until they are meltingly tender. The apple filling is then topped with pastry and the pan goes into the oven. The tarte is then inverted (to the delight of everyone watching) and served. While pie dough is the typical crust used for this tart, we've swapped in store-bought puff pastry for an easier preparation.

If I were making dessert for one of my favorite movie stars, George Clooney or Meryl Streep, I'd bake this galette because it is simple, rustic, and honest. If you want to serve it to a large group for a special gathering, the recipe doubles easily to make a 12-inch galette. Accompany with a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and you have a totally scrumptious home-style dessert. --Marcy

Parchment paper is a lifesaver when making this rustic tart. Use it when rolling out the tender, delicate crust (it'll keep it from sticking), then use it to fold over the edges of the galette.

As a rule, every dough you make should contain salt—it complements the sweetness in your filling—and this buttery shortbread is no exception. Using salt in the crust and the filling helps create balance among the sweet, the bitter (from the lemon peel), and the acidic notes (from the fresh lemon juice).

This tart (pronounced FISH-deh-kakah) has a moist, cakelike filling. For the best flavor, forgo pre-ground cardamom; take the time to shell and grind whole seeds. Hesitant about rolling out pie crusts? This recipe is for you; the crust is simply pressed into the pan.

This classic almond-flavored dessert gets a boost from a dried-fruit compote steeped overnight in grappa syrup. Once drained, this compote is coupled with the frangipane filling—an almond paste, not marzipan—to give the beautiful tart its luscious, unforgettable taste. The reserved syrup is brushed over the golden brown tart for a sparkling finish.

This elegant dessert evokes all the fun of a caramel apple but is a whole lot cleaner and easier to eat—and to share. McIntosh and Golden Delicious apples tend to break down when cooked, so use firmer cooking apples such as Cameo, Cortland, or Braeburn. Save leftover sauce for another use, such as an ice cream topping, a sweet fondue, or dip.

Even if you consider yourself a cook and not a baker, you can manage this recipe from Les Petits Farcis in Nice, France. The shortbread-like almond crust is a pleasingly rich base for the delicate custard. Try using Meyer lemons or adding minced rosemary to the crust.

After Hugh and I got married, just before I started writing this book, I started experimenting with vegetable dishes that could qualify as "man food." I came up with this dish featuring the fabulous combination of barely sweet squash and savory onions. At this point I count on one hand how many times I had made a tart, so I was pleasantly surprised when this went over as well as it did. I will not lie; this tart has a fair number of steps and will leave you with a sink full of dishes, but it's well worth it. If you like, you can make the tart shell, roast the squash, and sauté the chard a day in advance, then bring everything to room temperature before assembling it. Make sure that there are no holes in the tart crust and that it is completely cooked before adding the filling. I've had the egg mixture leak through the crust before, so hopefully I'm sparing you the same frustration.

Adding egg yolks, cream, and sugar transforms a standard crust into something almost cookie-like. Freeze the second crust for later use.

An easy cookie crust and a fragrant, custardy filling laced with rings of apple set this fall dessert apart from the competition.

This tart is a tradition-forming mix of caramel, crunchy pecans, and melted chocolate. Be sure to let it rest for 30 minutes before serving.

She filched one anyway, and ate it on her way out. It was stuffed with chopped nuts and fruit and cheese, the crust flaky and still warm from the oven. Eating Ser Amory's tart made Arya feel daring. Barefoot surefoot lightfoot, she sang under her breath. I am the ghost in Harrenhal. —A Clash of Kings

Britton uses agave syrup to sweeten this nutty crust.

These tasty tarts are easy to bring to a picnic or potluck dinner. Serve one for dessert—and one for breakfast the next day. Dried California apricots are dark orange and have a tangier, more intense flavor than Turkish ones.

When we say simple, we mean it. And simplicity is exactly what you want when the local strawberry season arrives, and you'd rather be outside than indoors at the stove—even though you want to celebrate berry season with an easy, spectacular dessert. Ta da! We've solved the problem. Borrowing and expanding on South American alfajores, those addictive buttery sandwich cookies filled with dulce de leche, we've made one big, flat cookie base (no hassling with tart pans), spread it with dulce de leche, and then topped it with a soft pillow of whipped cream for freshly sliced strawberries. It doesn't get better than this!

Made with a sturdy pâte sucrée shell, this dessert is a variation on the well-known fruit-topped tarts of traditional French pastry. The most recognizable of those depends on a generous amount of creamy filling such as pastry cream (crême pâtissière, page 476) or lemon curd (page 477), topped with a selection of ripe sliced fruits or whole berries. This one uses panna cotta—“cooked cream,” thickened with gelatin—instead, which is less rich than butter-thickened fillings. It is also a little less formal than the pâtissèrie tarts, as the fruit is macerated and casually served on the side rather than painstakingly arranged. In fact, the cherries in the photo are intended only as a suggestion; top the tart with any type of macerated fruit you prefer. It’s equally delicious unadorned. The crust should be cool before you make panna cotta since the filling needs to set in the shell. The cherries can be macerated up to one hour ahead and refrigerated; however, not more than that because the fruit loses flavor and texture if refrigerated too long, and also will begin to oxidize and brown on the edges.