What to Bring For Dessert Tutorial

I am invited to have dinner at one of my niece's homes tonight. I asked if I could bring something. She said "bring dessert".

Since it's Summer and all these fruits are succulently in season, I planned to make a fruit tart.

              

                   THIS IS IT - THE SUMMER FRUIT TART - IN ALL IT'S GLORY

I made it in a 9" spring form pan. I will remove the sides of the pan at service time. So, this is what you need:

1- get some mouth watering looking fruits (any kind) at the market of farm stand
2- one small package of vanilla instant pudding
3- 1/2 cup of Nutella
4- 1/2 cup of clear jelly, not jam (I used plum)
5- 1 package of refrigerated, ready to bake, 24 cookie, sugar cookies

Directions:
1- Put the fruits, one type at a time, into a collander and spray with water. Lay fruit out on tea towels to dry. They must be totally dry before arranging them on the tart.

2- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

 3- Smoosh, with your floured fingers, the sugar cookies around and a bit up the sides of the spring form pan. Smoosh remaining cookies over the pan bottom.

4- Put the cookie crust in the oven. It does take longer to turn golden than the manufacturers directions for baking individual cookies. Keep your eye on it. Remove when golden. Cool on rack.

5- Spread the Nutella over the cooled cookie crust.

6- Prepare the instant pudding using 1.5 cups of milk, not the 2 cups the manufacturer suggests.
Spread the thickened pudding over the Nutella.

7-  I hulled and cut the strawberries in half. I also cut the grapes in half. Arrange the fruits you have chosen in an artistic design over the layer of pudding.

8- The final step that makes this all look gorgeous is: melt that 1/2 cup of jelly in the microwave about 1 minute. With a pastry brush, paint all the fruit, covering each piece completely with the melted jelly.

That's the secret of making it look divine, all shiny and bright and irresistible.

Bon Appetit