Fresh Fruit Tart with Whipped Chocolate Ganache

As stunning as this tart is, it's also one of the easiest desserts you'll ever make. Grab a handful of ingredients and you can pull this treat together in just a few steps. The hardest part is waiting for the ganache to cool - patience is not my strong suit, especially when it comes to a chocolate dessert. But while the ganache is chillin', you can be chillin' too. Let the refrigerator do the work. Oh, and you can make the ganache up to 1 week in advance; keep it covered in plastic and chillin' in the fridge.

First step: blind baking: The first step in this recipe is to "blind bake" the tart shell. This is a great technique to learn for tarts and pies when you want to fill the golden brown pastry with uncooked fillings (like my whipped ganache).

A note about the glaze: The fruit on top is shimmering because I brush a simple glaze of strawberry preserves over top (after I warmed the preserves in the microwave).  You can also use seedless raspberry or apricot preserves.

A note about the fruit: I used kiwi, blackberries and strawberries because that's what I had on hand. Know what else looks gorgeous? Peaches, blueberries, and raspberries.

Fresh Fruit Tart with Whipped Chocolate Ganache

9-inch refrigerated pie crust
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 kiwi, peeled and thinly sliced into rounds
5-6 fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
5-7 blackberries
1 tablespoon seedless strawberry preserves

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut a piece of parchment paper in a circle the size of the inside of a 9-inch removable bottom tart pan (use the removable bottom to trace the right size on the parchment paper). Set the paper aside.
Press the pie crust into the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan. Place the parchment paper over top and weigh down with pie weights, dried beans or dry rice (this prevents the crust from rising). Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the paper and weights and prick the bottom of the tart with a fork (this prevents bubbles).
Bake for 5 more minutes until golden brown.
Cool completely.
To make the ganache, heat the cream in a small saucepan over high heat until bubbling. Place the chocolate chips in a mixing bowl and pour over the hot cream. Let stand 10 minutes without stirring (stirring right away cools the chocolate too quickly and can cause a grainy ganache).
Stir completely with a rubber spatula until the mixture is smooth, making sure to incorporate all the chocolate from the bottom of the bowl. Stir in the vanilla.
Cover the bowl with plastic and refrigerate until firm, about 1 to 2 hours.
Using the whisk attachment on your mixer (not the paddle), beat the ganache until light and fluffy, about 1 minute (the ganache will have the consistency of chocolate icing).
Spoon the ganache into the cooled crust and smooth the surface. Arrange the fruit over top.
Warm the preserves in a microwave for 20 seconds. Brush the preserves over the fruit. If you're not serving right away, refrigerate the tart until you're ready.

Makes 1 tart, about 8-10 servings