Fresh Fruit Flan Recipe
Fruit Flan is a beautiful dessert with fresh fruit and rich pastry cream in a pie crust. Use your favorite fruit or a variety to create a flan that will be the star of the table. Cool and sweet this is the best summer dessert.
Fruit flan is a dessert with three of my favorite things: delicious, flaky pie crust, creamy vanilla pastry cream, and fresh fruit. It really is a wonderful dessert especially during the warm summer months when you want to serve something cool for dessert.
You can make it as involved or easy as you want, to. Use store-bought pie dough instead of making your own and use fruit like berries that don’t need to be sliced. Or, you can make everything from scratch and use a variety of fruit to make a pretty design.
This is a dessert I make a lot during the summer. It’s sweet but not heavy and easy to customize with different kinds of fruit. It’s almost too pretty to slice and eat!
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- 1 pie dough round – you can buy one pre-made or make your own pie crust from scratch.
- Strawberry jam or melted chocolate
- 1 batch of pastry cream
- Fruit – I like sliced strawberries, blueberries, sliced kiwi, and sliced bananas.
- Apricot jam and water
Steps
Pre-heat the oven to 350F (180C). Grease and flour an 8 or 9″ pie plate or flan pan.
Roll out the pie dough into 1/8″ thick circle and place it in a 8 or 9″ prepared pie pan. Prick the dough with a fork and then cover the dough with parchment paper. Place pie weights or beans in the pan and bake the crust for 15 minutes at 350F (180C).
Remove the weights and paper and bake the crust for another 5 to 10 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and cool it completely.
Once the crust is cooled spread a thin layer of strawberry jam or melted chocolate over the top. This will create a barrier so the crust doesn’t get soggy after you add the pastry cream and fruit.
Spread the vanilla pastry over the top and then arrange the fruit on top.
Place the apricot jam in a saucepan with water. Heat it up and once the jam has melted into the water, brush the mixture over the top of the fruit. This glaze will give the fruit a shiny, finished look.
Chill the fruit flan for at least 30 to 60 minutes before serving.
FAQ
There are many options but I recommend using fruit that won’t release a lot of liquid as it sits. This can make your flan soggy. If you use large fruit like strawberries or stone fruit you should slice it to your desired thickeness.
You need to brush the cooled crust with either jam or a thin layer of melted chocolate. Either of these will prevent the crust from getting soggy. It’s also a great way to switch up the flavors. Use your favorite fruit jam or chocolate – dark chocolate, white, or milk chocolate will all work.
It’s best to store it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve it. I like to serve it within a few hours of making it while the fruit is still very pretty but it will keep well for up to four days in the refrigerator.
Your family and friends will love this fruit flan – they might even think you bought it at a fancy bakery! Serve it on a warm summer day for a delicious dessert. Enjoy!
More Summer Dessert Ideas
How about some more desserts for summer? You might like to try these, too.
- Lemon Layer Cake is soft and moist – a delicious cake to serve for summer.
- For a creamy cold treat make my No-Churn Strawberry Ice Cream. It’s so easy and you don’t need a machine to make it.
- M&M Cookies are perfect for picnics or potluck dinners. They’re soft and chewy with lots of chocolate candies.
Fresh Fruit Flan Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 single pie dough
- 1 pastry cream recipe
Your choice of fruit
- strawberries sliced, blue berries, kiwi sliced, banana sliced*.
- 2-3 tablespoons strawberry jam or melted chocolate
*The amount will depend on which fruit or berries you use. Large fruit should be sliced to desired thickness.
EXTRAS
- 2 tablespoons apricot jam
- 1-2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Prepare the Pie Pastry or use a store bought pie crust.
- Prepare the vanilla Pastry Cream.
- Pre-heat the oven to 350F (180C). Grease and flour a 8 or 9 inch pie plate or flan pan.
- Roll out the dough into a circle 1/8 inch thick, place into the prepared pan. Prick the bottom well with the tongs of a fork, cover with parchment paper, add pie weights or beans. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the weights and paper and continue to bake for another 5-10 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before filling.
- Once the crust has cooled, spread the top with the jam, spread the vanilla pastry cream evenly on top, then decorate with your favourite fruit slices and or berries. Brush the top of the flan with the apricot glaze. Chill 30-60 minutes and serve. Enjoy!
APRICOT GLAZE
- In a small pot add the apricot jam and water, place over low/medium heat and heat until the ingredients dissolve together and become a sort of syrup, approximately 3 minutes.
Looks delicious but I have not tried it. Just offering a suggestion: If fruit is too wet or juicy set it on a paper towel for a few minutes before putting it on the flan pie.
Hi Christina, thanks so much for the suggestion. I will add that to the recipe. Have a great weekend.