This Red White and Blue Tart made with a cool, creamy buttermilk custard and fresh summer strawberries, raspberries and blueberries is a festive dessert to celebrate the 4th of July.

an overhead view of two slices of buttermilk berry tart

Why We Love This Recipe For Red White and Blue Tart

During the summer I love to go berry picking and make berry tart recipes like this fourth of July tart or my Blueberry Almond Tart or Healthy Chocolate Hazelnut Raspberry Tart. It’s such a simple summertime pleasure!

When it’s time to serve the tart I top each slice with a pillow of whipped cream and more juicy berries. It’s truly the perfect summer dessert, especially for holidays like the fourth of July and Memorial Day.

Recipe Highlights

  • Beautiful and impressive but so easy to make
  • Bring it to backyard get togethers, barbecues and 4th of July parties
  • The crispy “short” crust is made in the food processor with just 4 tablespoons of butter and a blend of all purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour for its added nutrients.
a red white and blue tart from overhead

Key Ingredients For This 4th of July Tart

  • Flour: The crust calls for all-purpose flour and whole-wheat pastry flour which is great for giving whole grain baked goods like tart crust a delicate texture.
  • Maple Sugar: Find maple sugar at Whole Foods or other well stocked supermarkets. Or you can use brown sugar. I tested this recipe with both sugars and had success.
  • Kosher Salt
  • Unsalted Butter: You could use salted, but reduce the amount of added salt to about 1/8 teaspoon.
  • Avocado Oil: Canola oil is also fine here.
  • Ice Cold Water
  • Eggs
  • Buttermilk: You can also make your own buttermilk by mixing together 1 cup of milk with 1 teaspoon lemon juice.
  • Almond Extract: If you’re making this for someone with a nut allergy, omit the almond extract or use vanilla extract instead.
  • Mixed Berries: Blueberries, raspberries and hulled and halved or quartered strawberries depending on how large they are.
  • Cold Whipping Cream: Whipped into soft peaks.
  • Fresh Mint
Red White and Blue Berry tart close up

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Preheat oven

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 9-inch tart pan with cooking spray.

Step 2: Meanwhile make crust

Process all-purpose flour, whole-wheat pastry flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles a meal. Open the lid, drizzle on the oil, and repeat pulsing until the oil is incorporated into the flour mixture. Open the lid and drizzle cold water over the crumbs. Cover and pulse about 15 times, until the mixture is moist and starting to clump together. It will look like small pebbles, but when you squeeze it, it should hold together.

Step 3: Bake tart crust

Assemble the dough in the tart pan. Just pat the crust dough into a tart pan (the kind with a removable bottom.) You can use a dry measuring cup to press it into the pan. Work it up the sides evenly and flatten the top of the edge. Prick the pastry about 10 times with a fork, then transfer the tart pan to a baking sheet. Place it in the oven and bake until the crust is dry and set up, 13 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining flour over the tart shell and brush into the fork holes. This keeps the custard mixture from sinking through the holes.

Did you know? Pricking the dough is called docking, and its purpose is to release steam so that the bottom doesn’t puff up in the initial blind baking. When you blind-bake it, if the bottom does start to puff, tamp it down with the back of a fork.

Step 4: Make custard filling

Beat the eggs, buttermilk, sugar and almond extract in a large bowl. Add flour and beat until smooth. While the crust is hot out of the oven (and you’ve brushed the docking holes with flour) arrange the berries. If you’re not super into it, you can seriously just throw them in, and the whole thing will still be lovely. Lovely and delicious.

Step 5: Bake tart and serve

Carefully return the custard tart with berries to the oven and reduce the heat to 325 degrees. Bake until the custard is set up in the center, 40 to 46 minutes. Let it cool completely, about 2 hours. Cut into wedges and serve topped with whipped cream, the remaining berries and mint.

Note: Don’t forget to turn the oven down when you put the tart back in.

overhead tablescape with red white and blue buttermilk berry tart

FAQs and Expert Tips

Can this Fourth of July Tart be made in advance?

You can assemble the tart shell a day in advance, but I recommend baking it the same day as serving. Make the dough and press it into the pan, then store the unbaked tart shell (covered) in the fridge until ready to bake.

How should I store this tart?

Cover the tart with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. (It’s best consumed within the first day or two.)

Can I make this tart with other fruit?

Yes you could make this tart with other fruit. It may not be red white and blue but it would still be delicious. Try it with blackberries or diced peaches, plums or apricots. And if you do, drop a comment at the bottom of the recipe and let me know how it turned out.

Outdoor Party Menu For Memorial Day or 4th of July

Thanks so much for reading! If you are new here, you may want to sign up for my email newsletter to get a free weekly menu plan and the latest recipes right to your inbox. If you make this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review. I would love to hear what you thought!

Happy Cooking! ~Katie

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Celebrate the best of what Summer has to offer with this Red White and Blue Buttermilk Berry Tart! A lightly sweetened buttermilk custard is poured over a mix of fresh, plump and delicious summer berries and baked in an easy press-in crust and then topped with a dollop of whipped cream. The perfect warm weather dessert! | Healthy Seasonal Recipes | Katie Webster

Red White and Blue Tart


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  • Author: Katie Webster
  • Total Time: 4 hours
  • Yield: 10 servings 1x

Description

This Red White and Blue Tart made with a cool, creamy buttermilk custard and fresh summer strawberries, raspberries and blueberries is just the thing to celebrate the 4th of July. The crust is super easy-you make the dough in a food processor and then just press it into the pan. You got this!


Ingredients

Units Scale

Tart crust

  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus 1 to 2 teaspoon for brushing crust
  • 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
  • 1 tablespoon maple sugar or lightly packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoons avocado oil or organic canola oil
  • 1/4 cup ice cold water

Filling

  • 2 large eggs
  • 2/3 cup buttermilk
  • 2/3 cup maple sugar or lightly packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups mixed berries, divided (blueberries, raspberries and hulled and halved or quartered strawberries)

For serving

  • 1/2 cup cold whipping cream, whipped
  • Fresh Mint

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 9-inch tart pan with cooking spray.
  2. Meanwhile make crust: Process ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, whole-wheat pastry flour, 1 tablespoon sugar and salt in a food processor. Add butter, and pulse to chop butter into the flour mixture until it resembles meal. Open lid, drizzle on oil, and repeat pulsing until the oil is incorporated into the flour mixture. Open lid and drizzle cold water over the crumbs. Cover and pulse about 15 times, until the mixture is moist and starting to clump together. It will look like small pebbles, but when you squeeze it, it should hold together.
  3. Pat crumb mixture into the tart pan and press to make evenly thick all over and up sides. A dry measuring cup is useful to make the bottom flat. Press tines of a fork into the pastry down to the pan about 10 times with a fork. Transfer the tart pan to a baking sheet. Set in oven and bake until the crust is dry and set up and starting to pull from the sides, 13 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining 1 to 2 teaspoon flour over the tart shell and brush into the fork holes.
  4. Beat eggs, buttermilk, sugar and almond extract in a large bowl. Add flour and beat until smooth. Arrange 2 cups berries in the custard, decoratively if desired. Carefully pour the custard mixture into the tart shell. Do not overfill. Rearrange any berries if necessary.
  5. Carefully return the tart to the oven, reduce heat to 325 degrees. Bake until the custard is set up in the center, 40 to 46 minutes. Let cool completely, about 2 hours. Cut into wedges and serve topped with whipped cream, the remaining berries and mint.

Notes

Storing Instructions: Cover the custard tart with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days (it’s best consumed within the first day or so).

  • Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Calories: 244
  • Sugar: 12 g
  • Sodium: 95 mg
  • Fat: 12 g
  • Saturated Fat: 4 g
  • Trans Fat: 0 g
  • Carbohydrates: 30 g
  • Fiber: 2 g
  • Protein: 4 g
  • Cholesterol: 50 mg