Hearty Fall Fruit Tart

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter, chilled
• ½ cup cream cheese
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 apples - peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• 1 pear - peeled, cored and sliced
• ¼ cup orange juice
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
• ½ cup apricot jam, warmed

Step 1

Cut the cold butter and cream cheese into the flour using a knife or pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. If you have a food processor, you can pulse the cold butter into the flour until it’s crumbly like cornmeal, then add the cream cheese and pulse a few more times until the pieces are about the size of small peas. When you squeeze some of the mixture, it should hold together in a ball. Shape the dough into a round disk, wrap it in plastic, and pop it in the fridge for at least an hour.

Step 2

While the dough chills, toss the sliced apples and pear with the orange juice. In a separate bowl, mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and cornstarch. Stir this spice-sugar mixture into the fruit until everything is nicely coated, then set it aside.

Step 3

Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). If you’re using an 8-inch tart pan, get that ready. Or if you prefer a free-form tart (galette), just lightly grease a baking sheet.

Step 4

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into about a 10-inch circle. Transfer it to your tart pan or baking sheet. Arrange the fruit on top in a pretty pattern. If you’re making a galette, leave about a 2-inch border around the fruit and fold the edges of the dough up over the filling, overlapping the folds as you go.

Step 5

Bake the tart until the crust turns golden and the fruit filling is bubbling, which should take around 30 minutes. Once it’s out of the oven, brush the top with some apricot jam to give it a lovely shine and extra flavor. Let it cool a bit before serving.