Fruit tart glaze made with the Thermomix® has two temperature phases, and both determine the result. First it needs to get hot enough so the cornflour actually sets. Then it needs to cool down far enough before we pour it over the tart. We have been making this glaze for years and have made almost every mistake there is to make.
For us, this glaze comes into play whenever fresh fruit sits on a sponge base and we want it to look glossy rather than dry. Strawberries in early summer, apricots and peaches in July, grapes and mandarins in autumn. We do not need a packet mix for it, because all three ingredients are already in the cupboard and the whole thing takes ten minutes in the mixing bowl.
Fruit Tart Glaze with the Thermomix® Basic Recipe
Ingredients 0 / 3 ✓
- 300 g fruit juice
- 30 g cornflour
- 30 g sugar
Instructions 0 / 3
-
1
Blend the ingredients.
Add all the ingredients to the mixing bowl and blend for 15 seconds / speed 10.
-
2
Cook and leave to cool.
Cook the juice mixture for 8 minutes / 100°C / speed 2 and leave to cool for 1 minute.
-
3
Pour the glaze over the tart.
Pour the fruit glaze over your finished fruit tart and leave to set.
Tip: You can choose your fruit juice freely based on taste and the colour you want.
Video
Nutrition per serving
Juice instead of water makes all the difference
Packet tart glaze is stirred with water. That works, but tastes of nothing. In our basic recipe we use 300 g of fruit juice, and the 300 g is not a suggestion but the exact ratio at which the binding with 30 g cornflour and 30 g sugar actually works. More juice and the glaze turns out too thin; less and it clumps when it boils.
Which juice to use depends on the fruit on the tart. Red grape juice or cherry juice works well with strawberries, raspberries and dark berries, giving the classic red glossy finish. Clear apple juice is our standard choice when the fruit itself is colourful enough and the glaze should not interfere visually, for example with peaches, mirabelles, mandarins or pale grapes. Multivitamin juice also works but looks a little cloudy.
One important point about the juice: pure juice and juice from concentrate are both fine, but nectars and fruit drinks are not. These contain extra water and sugar, which shifts the ratio so the glaze sets less reliably. If you want to be sure, check the label quickly: it must say 100% fruit.
What happens in the mixing bowl
In the first step we put 300 g juice, 30 g cornflour and 30 g sugar into the mixing bowl and blend for 15 seconds at speed 10. That sounds like a lot, but it matters: cornflour clumps extremely quickly in liquid, and only the fast blending distributes the starch granules evenly. Anyone who just stirs the cornflour in will end up with lumps when the mixture boils.
Then comes the actual setting stage: 8 minutes / 100°C / speed 2. Starch only sets at around 95°C, so the 100°C is not a guideline but a requirement. Speed 2 keeps the glaze in constant motion without working in air. Over those eight minutes the consistency changes visibly: at first the mixture stays as runny as the juice, then from about minute five it thickens noticeably, and by the end it runs off the spatula like a thick sauce.
There is no separate TM31 note in this recipe because 100°C means the same on every model. Anyone with a TM31 can follow the same steps. On very old machines the final temperature may stay just below 100°C. If the glaze still looks watery after eight minutes, simply extend by 2 minutes / Varoma / speed 2.
The cooling phase decides everything
This is the point where most people lose their tart glaze. Straight from the mixing bowl the mixture is 95 to 100°C and correspondingly runny. If you pour it over the tart right now, the glaze runs past the fruit, collects at the edge, drips down the side of the springform tin and settles in puddles at the base rather than coating the fruit evenly.
The other extreme is just as bad: if you leave the glaze too long, you end up with a wobbly mass that no longer flows but drops onto the fruit in chunks. It looks like aspic and cannot be spread smooth.
The right temperature is hand-warm, roughly 35 to 40°C. In practice: after cooking, take the mixing bowl out and leave it at room temperature for 8 to 10 minutes. We check by touching the underside of the mixing bowl: if it still feels clearly warm but no longer hot, the consistency is right. The glaze should run off the spatula while still drawing a visible thread. If you want to be precise, use a kitchen thermometer.
During this phase do not stir again. Every stir introduces air and breaks the setting again. Simply leave the mixing bowl to stand and wait.
Pouring with a method
Before the glaze goes on the tart, the fruit must be dry. Strawberries should be patted briefly with kitchen paper after washing, otherwise water runs under the glaze and loosens it again. The same applies to tinned peaches or apricots: drain the syrup well, ideally on a sieve for 10 minutes.
For a neat finish, a cake ring or the springform tin helps: place it around the base and fruit, pour the glaze into the centre and push it gently to the edge with the back of a spoon. Nothing ends up on the table, and the glaze fills all the gaps between the pieces of fruit. The ring only comes off once the glaze is fully set, which takes at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
300 g of glaze is exactly right for a 26 cm springform tin with one layer of fruit. For a 28 cm tin or a particularly uneven fruit topping, we make one and a half times the amount: 450 g juice, 45 g cornflour, 45 g sugar, everything else stays the same.
When the glaze goes wrong: three typical cases
Lumps in the glaze: the cornflour was not blended long enough or it was poured cold onto the fruit. Neither can be fixed in reverse. If you notice early (that is, right after cooking), you can blend out the lumps with 10 seconds / speed 6. If the lumps are already on the tart, there is nothing for it but to scrape it off and cook a fresh batch.
Glaze stays runny: either too little cornflour was used, it was not cooked long enough, or 100°C was not reached. Return the glaze to the mixing bowl, stir a further 5 g cornflour into 2 tbsp juice, add it in and cook for another 3 minutes / 100°C / speed 2. Then leave to cool again.
Glaze runs off the edge of the tart: poured on too hot. The only fix here is to scrape the glaze off the base, re-melt it in the mixing bowl at 2 minutes / 60°C / speed 2, leave to cool and pour again. The second attempt usually works.
Red glaze without red juice
If only clear juice is in the house but the glaze should be red, there are two ways without food colouring. Option one: replace 30 g of the juice with strawberry or raspberry juice from a carton, leaving the rest as clear apple juice. This gives a subtle pink and works well for classic berry tarts.
Option two, more intense: add 2 tbsp red berry compote syrup or elderflower cordial with berry fruit, reducing the juice quantity accordingly. Here the sugar needs a small adjustment because the syrups are already sweet. We then use only 20 g sugar instead of 30 g.
Clear version with natural fruit flavour: mix white grape juice with lemon juice (270 g grape juice plus 30 g lemon juice). This works especially well with apricots and peaches, because the acidity balances the sweetness of the fruit.
Which tarts we use it for
Our classic is the strawberry quark base with a red glossy finish, for which we use cherry juice. In summer, any kind of fruit tart works, for example a classic sponge base made in the Thermomix®, which lets us put together simple fruit tarts quickly. Anyone who prefers a yeast base can try a universal yeast dough: it carries a generous fruit topping and the glaze binds everything into one.
Fruit tart glaze keeps the finished tart fresh in the fridge for two days. After that the fruit underneath turns watery, the glaze loosens at the edges and the base goes soggy. Freezing does not work: as it thaws, moisture condenses under the glaze, turning it cloudy and causing it to separate from the fruit.
Goes well with: Strawberry cake.
Leftover glaze on its own (without a tart underneath) can still be used the next day: re-melt it cold in the mixing bowl for 2 minutes / 70°C / speed 2, leave to cool and it is ready. Fresh is still better, because the flavour of the juice fades after 24 hours.
