Recipes › Grape (Outdoor) › Fresh Outdoor Grape Tart
Fresh Outdoor Grape Tart
An elegant patisserie-style tart with a buttery pastry shell, a luscious vanilla crème pâtissière filling, and neat rows of fresh outdoor grapes glazed to a beautiful gleam. This is a celebration of the British outdoor grape — simple in components but sophisticated and impressive in presentation.
Grape (Outdoor) is in season now. More grape (outdoor) recipes, or see what to sow this month where you are.
Ingredients
- 200 g plain flour
- 100 g unsalted butter, cold
- 40 icing sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tbsp cold water
- 300 ml whole milk
- 3 egg yolks
- 75 caster sugar
- 25 g cornflour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 20 g unsalted butter
- 400 outdoor grapes, halved
- 3 tbsp redcurrant jelly (for glaze)
Contains: cereals gluten, eggs, milk.
Method
- Make and chill the pastry, then blind bake in a 23 cm tart tin at 180°C. Cool completely.
- Make crème pâtissière: heat the milk until steaming. Whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornflour, and vanilla until pale. Pour the hot milk over, whisking, then return to the pan and stir over a medium heat until thick and glossy. Beat in the butter. Press cling film onto the surface and cool completely.
- Spread the cooled crème pâtissière into the tart shell in an even layer.
- Arrange the halved grapes neatly in rows or concentric circles over the top.
- Warm the redcurrant jelly with 1 teaspoon of water until melted and smooth. Brush over the grapes to glaze.
- Chill for 30 minutes before serving.
Tips
- Press cling film directly onto the crème pâtissière while it cools to prevent a skin forming.
- Arrange the grapes with cut-sides down for the most attractive appearance.
Ring the changes
- Replace the crème pâtissière with a layer of crème fraîche mixed with 2 tablespoons of honey for a quicker, lighter alternative.
Keeping it
Best eaten on the day of assembly. Store in the fridge for up to 1 day — the pastry will soften slightly.
In the app this recipe finds you
Log what you've picked and GrowMore CookMore matches it to 1,918 more recipes like this one, tells you what's ready before the frost gets it, and keeps the freezer honest. Free to start.
More from the same crop
A magnificent autumn centrepiece of slow-roasted lamb shoulder with outdoor grapes tucked around the joint, which caramelise and meld with the pan juices into a sweet-savoury sauce as the lamb renders down to meltingly tender, pull-apart perfection. The grapes add a uniquely British autumnal character to this celebratory roast.
3 h 50 min · medium · Grape (Outdoor)
Allotment keeper in the North East of England, the voice behind the Tony C Smith YouTube channel, and the gardener who built GrowMore CookMore. Club numbers on this page update as members log their plots. Last updated 4 April 2026.