Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes Pie & Tarts Recipes Martha's Cherry Tart This irresistible dessert has a sweet, shortbread-like crust and a kirsch-infused cream that's topped with juicy Bing cherries. Prep Time: 45 mins Cook Time: 35 mins Total Time: 3 hrs 35 mins Servings: 8 to 10 Yield: 1 9-inch tart Jump to recipe Silky pastry cream and fresh Bing cherries come together in this sophisticated cherry tart. Both components sit atop pâte sucrée, a French-style sweet tart dough with a buttery shortbread-like texture; think of it as a hybrid between a traditional pie crust and cookie. Once baked, it transforms into a flaky yet sturdy base for this rich, fruity dessert. Kirsch, a clear brandy made from morello cherries, brings out the sweet, juicy flavor of Bing cherries. It's mixed into the pastry cream, then appears again in the cherry preserves used for the topping. Serve this cherry tart with whipped cream, vanilla ice cream, or a dusting of powdered sugar. How to Store Cherries to Keep Them Sweet and Fresh Credit: Mike Krautter / GETTY IMAGES Cherry Tart Components Pâte sucrée: Pâte sucrée is a rich, buttery pastry crust made with butter, eggs, and all-purpose flour. Sweetened with sugar, it makes a delicious, tender base for tarts. While you can make it by hand, we prefer the quicker method of using a food processor. Note that the dough will need to be refrigerated for at least 1 hour before rolling out. Pastry cream: A luscious layer of homemade pastry cream sits between the crust and the cherry topping. It's made with milk, egg yolks, sugar, and butter, and is flavored with a few teaspoons of cherry liqueur. This recipe comes together quickly on the stovetop but requires at least 2 hours of chilling time before using. Cherry topping: The star of this recipe is undoubtedly the juicy cherry topping, which gets an extra flavor boost—and gorgeous shine–from a mixture of cherry preserves and cherry liqueur. We recommend using fresh, not frozen, cherries for this recipe. You'll need to pit the cherries first, which you can do with a cherry pitter or by using one of these creative techniques. What Is Blind Baking? Blind baking is a technique used for making pie and tart recipes featuring a custard or unbaked filling. To blind bake, you will fit the crust into the pan, and then line it with a piece of parchment paper topped with pie weights (typically dried peas, beans, or lentils, though you can buy pie weights at kitchen supply stores as well). There are a few key advantages to weighing down the crust before baking. The weights help to prevent pockets of steam from puffing up the crust, which can result in an uneven bottom. The weights also help to support the sides, keeping them from shrinking down as the crust cooks. You can reuse pie weights again and again, just be sure to store them separately from your other dried legumes so you don't accidentally cook with them. After fitting the crust into the tart shell, you can reinforce the sides of the crust, which makes slicing and serving easier, by "doubling down" the dough. To do this, lift the crust from the pan and fold it over itself slightly, then press it into the pan gently to create a smooth edge. Continue working around the pan until all of the edges are reinforced. Make Ahead The pâte sucrée and pastry cream can both be made up to 2 days ahead of time. Refrigerate until ready to use. Directions Preheat oven; roll dough and fit into tart pan; freeze: Preheat oven to 375°F. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll out to a 12-inch round, a bit less than 1/4 inch thick; fit in a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. To transfer the dough to the tart pan, roll it around your rolling pin. Place the rolling pin on the pan, then roll it in the opposite direction to release the dough. Bake crust: Line shell with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fill with pie weights. Bake for about 20 minutes. Remove parchment and weights. Bake until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Combine pastry cream ingredients: Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk together milk and egg yolks in a glass measuring cup. Add milk mixture to the saucepan, along with butter. Cook pastry cream: Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Let boil 1 minute. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Strain cream and add liqueur: Strain pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and immediately whisk in 4 teaspoons cherry liqueur. Cover and chill cream: Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the pastry cream to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. Just before using, whisk until smooth. Fill tart with cream and cherries: Fold whipped cream into chilled pastry cream and transfer to cooled tart shell. Working from the outside in, shingle cherries in concentric circles to cover completely. Brush with preserves and kirsch: Heat preserves in a small saucepan over medium heat until warm. Add remaining teaspoon kirsch and stir to combine. Brush mixture over cherries. Refrigerate tart until ready to serve. Variations For a different flavor profile, replace some of the cherries with other fruits. Delicious options include berries and stone fruits, such as peaches or nectarines. Replace the vanilla extract with almond extract, which pairs beautifully with cherries. Storage Refrigerate the tart, covered, and enjoy within 3 to 4 days. 7 More Cherry Dessert Recipes to Try: Martha's Sour Cherry Pie Sour-Cherry Crumble Bars Roasted Cherries With Tofu "Panna Cotta" Sour-Cherry Cobbler Cherry-Cheesecake Celebration Bombe Cherry Gelée Rustic Three-Cherry Tart Updated by Kirsten Nunez Kirsten Nunez Kirsten Nunez is a writer who focuses on food, health, nutrition, and DIY. She has a master's degree in nutrition, and has been writing professionally for nearly 10 years for digital and print publications, such as decorvow, Shape, Real Simple, Healthline, and SELF. She also creates original recipes, which have appeared on product packaging in stores.