Turn Your Tart Into A Work Of Art With These Creative Tricks

So you’ve already got a solid filling to your tart, but you’re unsure how to decorate it. Presentation is key and a bonus is you can be as creative as you want with a dessert like this. Here are 14 designs to check out to help get you inspired.

Chocolate Drip Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 9” tart, set and chilled
• Chocolate Sauce
• Assorted chocolate candy

Preparation:

1. Pipe a ½” thick line of chocolate sauce onto the bottom third of the tart.
2. Carefully lift the bottom of the tart and tilt it at an almost 90-degree angle until the chocolate drips almost to the top edge of the tart.
3. Rotate the tart 180 degrees, so that the drip appears to be coming from the top, then arrange the assorted chocolate candies across the top of the chocolate sauce.

Citrus Ombré Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 9” tart, set and chilled
• Assorted citrus fruits (we used grapefruit, ruby red grapefruit, Valencia oranges, cara cara oranges, and blood oranges)

Preparation:

1. Using a very sharp knife, cut the ends off of one of the citrus fruits, then stand it up one side.
2. Carefully cut off the peel, following the contour of the fruit with the knife. Be sure to remove all of the white pith, then slice into ¼” thick rounds. Repeat with remaining citrus.
3. On a baking sheet, match the citrus by color and sort them into groups from lightest color to darkest color.
4. Starting with the lightest color, tile the rounds of citrus on the top edge of the tart, then repeat with the remaining colors.

Patterned Fruit Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 9” tart, set and chilled
• 4 semi-firm mangoes, peeled and sliced ¼” thick
• 1 small ripe seedless watermelon, cut into ¼” thick rounds

Preparation:

1. Using a 1½” square cookie cutter, cut squares out of the sliced mangoes and watermelon. Using a ½” square cookie cutter, cut the centers out of each larger square, then cut in half on a diagonal.
2. Practice arranging the fruit into the pattern on a plate first. The pattern is simply alternating pieces of the fruit to create a diamond. Take 1 large piece of cut mango and place it down so it looks like a left-pointing arrow. Set a small piece of watermelon into the inside of the mango so it fits into the cut. Place a small piece of mango next, followed by a large piece of watermelon so it looks like a right-pointing arrow.
3. The pattern will always be in the same orientation, so if you lose track of the pattern or which piece goes next, just follow the original diamond shape.
4. Apply the fruit to the top center edge of the tart, then repeat the diamond immediately below the first one and repeat until the surface of the tart is covered. You will need to cut small pieces to fit around the outside edges of the tart.

Sliced Fruit Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 9” tart, set and chilled
• 5-6 ripe kiwis, sliced ⅛” thick
• 2 semi-firm mangoes, peeled and sliced very thin (less than 1/16” thick)
• 4 red apples, sliced very thin (less than 1/16” thick)
• 1½ cups vanilla Greek yogurt

Preparation:

1. Spread the yogurt in a thin layer in the tart.
2. Tile slices of kiwi down the left edge of the tart to create a vertical line. Next to that line, follow with slices of red apple, then slices of mango.
3. Repeat the process until the entire surface of the tart is covered.

Paint Swirl Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 9” tart shell, baked and cooled
• 1 lb cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup greek yogurt
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• Food coloring

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, yogurt, and milk and beat on high with an electric mixer.
2. Pour in the heavy cream and continue to beat until mixture is very fluffy, then add in the powdered sugar. Mix until fully combined.
3. Divide the batter into 3 separate bowls, keeping one bowl white, and dyeing the other two bowls colors of your choice.
4. Using a ¼ cup measuring cup, pour one color of batter into the center of the cooled tart shell.
5. Pour ¼ cup of a different color directly into the middle of the first, then repeat with the third color. This should create a bullseye-like pattern.
6. Repeat until the batter comes ¾ of the way up the side of the tart shell.
7. Refrigerate the tart for about 4 hours, until fully set.

Spiral Swirl Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 9” tart shell, baked and cooled
• 1 lb cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup greek yogurt
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• Food coloring

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, yogurt, and milk and beat on high with an electric mixer.
2. Pour in the heavy cream and continue to beat until mixture is very fluffy, then add in the powdered sugar.
3. Mix until fully combined. If the batter seems a little too thick, add more milk 1 tablespoon at a time.
4. Divide the batter into 2 separate bowls, keeping one bowl white, and dyeing the other bowl a contrasting color of your choice.
5. Load the colored batter into a squeeze bottle.
6. Pour the white batter into the tart shell, stopping when it reaches ¼” from the top.
7. Starting from the center, rotate the plate and squeeze a spiral of the colored batter, working your way out towards the edge as you go.
8. Start from the center of the spiral and, using a wooden skewer, drag a line out towards the edge of the tart.
9. Wipe off the skewer and repeat another line, this time starting from the outer edge in towards the center.
10. Repeat this process, alternating the direction of the lines until you have feathered the whole spiral.
11. Refrigerate the tart for about 4 hours, until completely set.

Lemon Meringue Spiral Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 9” graham cracker tart filled with lemon curd, set and chilled
• 3 egg whites
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Lemon zest curls, for garnish (optional)

Preparation:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy, then slowly stream in the sugar. Increase the speed to high and beat until mixture is very glossy and has very stiff peaks.
2. Load the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a flat piping tip.
3. Spin the plate and pipe a spiral of meringue into the center of the tart, working your way towards the outer edge.
4. Lightly brown the meringue with a kitchen torch, then garnish with lemon curls, if using.

Fruit Ring Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 9” tart, set and chilled
• Berry jam, strained to remove any seeds and larger pieces of fruit (you can add a drop of food coloring to boost the color!)
• Sliced berries, for garnish (optional)

Preparation:

1. Pour the jam into a bowl. Dip the rim of a glass into the jam, then stamp a circle onto the tart.
2. You can repeat the circles to create any pattern you’d like, filling in the entire surface of the tart or using a more minimalistic approach leaving lots of negative space.
3. Garnish with sliced berries, if using.

Latte Art Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 9” tart shell, baked and cooled
• 1 lb cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup greek yogurt
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, yogurt, and milk and beat on high with an electric mixer.
2. Pour in the heavy cream and continue to beat until mixture is very fluffy, then add in the powdered sugar.
3. Mix until fully combined. If the batter seems a little too thick, add more milk 1 tablespoon at a time.
4. Divide the batter into 2 separate bowls, keeping ¼ of the mixture bowl white, and stirring in the instant espresso powder into the remaining ¾ of the batter.
5. Load the white batter into a squeeze bottle.
6. Pour the espresso batter into the tart shell until it reaches ¼” from the top.
7. Pipe a triangular zigzag shape (it should resemble a Christmas tree) with the white filling over top of the espresso filling, then pipe a circle above the tree.
8. Using a wooden skewer, drag a line through the top circle all the way through the bottom of the tree shape to create a latte art-inspired design.
9. Refrigerate for about 4 hours, until completely set.

Celery Flower Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 9” tart, set and chilled
• 1 celery heart, bottom 3” cut
• Food coloring

Preparation:

1. Pour a few drops of food coloring into a small dish, then dip the end of the celery into the food coloring and lightly blot it with a paper towel (a light coating of food coloring is best).
2. Gently press the dipped end of the celery onto the surface of the tart to create a flower/rose design. We made some smaller roses by pulling off some of the outer stalks of celery.
3. Once you have the desired amount of flowers on the tart, take a thin stalk from the center of the celery and dip it in green food coloring.
4. Press the dipped end of the small stalk next to a flower, then repeat in the opposite direction to create small leaves.

White Chocolate Swirl Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 9” tart, set and chilled (we used a white pastry cream filling dyed red but you can also use chocolate filling or any other color other than white)
• White chocolate, melted
• Berries or chocolate shavings, for garnish (optional)

Preparation:

1. Load the melted white chocolate into a squeeze bottle.
2. Working over a piece of parchment paper or newspaper, pipe big circles over the surface of the tart, working slightly off-center to create a freehand pattern.
3. Pipe a few dots of white chocolate to add some more detail.
4. Garnish with sliced berries or chocolate shavings, if using.

Stained Glass Butterfly Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 9” tart, set and chilled
• Dark chocolate, melted
• Orange marmalade, melted and strained
• White chocolate, melted

Preparation:

1. Print a graphic illustration of a butterfly (you can pick a design that is as intricate or simple as you’d like).
2. Load the melted dark chocolate into a squeeze bottle.
3. Lay a sheet of parchment paper over the print out then pipe the chocolate to create the outline.
4. Freeze the outline of the butterfly for about 15 minutes, until it lifts away from the parchment paper easily.
5. Carefully place the outline into the center of the tart and gently press to adhere.
6. Pipe or spoon some of the cooled orange marmalade into the parts of the wings you wish to make orange.
7. Pipe a few dots of the melted white chocolate on top of the marmalade, using your print out as a guide.

Fruit Crescent Tart

Ingredients:

• 1 9” tart, set and chilled
• Assorted berries, a few of each halved (we used strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries)
• Mint leaves
• Whipped cream, for garnish
• Edible flowers, for garnish (optional)

Preparation:

1. Arrange the berries and the berry halves into a crescent shape on one side of the tart, piling on more to make the center thicker and tapering off towards the ends.
2. Pipe a few decorative dots of whipped cream.
3. Garnish with mint leaves and edible flowers, if desired.