Fruit Custard Pies and Tarts

Custard is a liquid mixture that contains eggs and sets when it is cooked. The best-known custards, such as crème brulée or crème caramel, are made with milk or cream, but custards can also be made with purees of fruit or vegetables—a pumpkin pie, for example, is filled with pumpkin custard. Any fruit can be used to make a fruit custard; the sugar should be adjusted according to how sweet the fruit is. The custard fillings for fruit custard tarts and pies are very similar to fruit curds except that fruit curds are cooked on the stove and usually contain butter, while fruit custard fillings are baked in the oven and contain cream. Though fruit custard tarts or tartlets make fine stand-alone desserts, they can also be used as the base for raw fruit tarts—just arrange berries or other fruit on top.