Inspired by the tangram, a Chinese dissection puzzle made up of geometric shapes arranged in varying combinations to form other shapes, this design is one that has come to define the Lokokitchen aesthetic. While the concept is derived through coplanar placement of polygons and assorted angles, don’t get bogged down by the formula. Ultimately, the sum of its parts is simply a tart, and variables will translate, too.

　　

Ingredients

1 baked Speculoos Cookie Crust

　　15 oz cranberries, fresh or frozen

　　3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

　　¾ cup (149 g) granulated sugar

　　½ tsp. kosher salt

　　3 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks

　　6 Tbsp. (85 g) butter, at room temperature, cut into ½-inch cubes

　　

For the Design:

1 firm mango

　　1 white-fleshed dragon fruit (pitaya)

　　2 or 3 firm kiwis

　　

Cranberry Curd:

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

　　

Step 2

Combine the cranberries and 2 tablespoons water in a 2-quart saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the cranberries burst and start to break down, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and press the cranberries through a fine-mesh sieve with a silicone spatula, extracting as much puree as possible. Discard the remaining pulp and return the puree to the saucepan.

　　

Step 3

Add the lemon juice, sugar, salt, eggs, and egg yolks to the cranberry puree and whisk to combine. Cook over medium heat, whisking continuously, until the mixture is warmed through. Add the butter gradually and stir until all the cubes have melted. Continue cooking until the mixture is thickened enough to coat a spatula, 5 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently and scraping the corners of the saucepan.

　　

Step 4

Remove from the heat and strain the curd through a fine-mesh sieve.

　　

Step 5

Keep the baked tart shell in the tart pan and place on a baking sheet. Pour the curd into the tart shell, smoothing the surface. Bake the tart for 5 minutes, just to set the filling.

　　

Step 6

Cool completely before decorating.

　　

Tangram Design Process:

Step 7

Peel and cut the fruit into ¼-inch slices. Arrange the fruit slices on a large plate organized by type.

　　

Step 8

Cut any type of triangle—equilateral, scalene, obtuse, acute, isosceles, right—from a piece of mango, slicing as close to the edge as possible to maximize the yield of each fruit slice. Pause here if you feel the need to Google image search some triangles. Otherwise, throw math to the wind and cut any sort of shape with three sides. Place it along a tart edge.

　　

Step 9

Cut another shape from a kiwi slice and place it next to the mango, leaving some space between the fruit, not unlike tile grout lines. Generally, polygons like triangles, parallelograms, and trapezoids work well for this design. I avoid shapes with more than four sides mainly to save time, but if manually sliced hexagons or even hendecagons (back to Google…) are your thing, by all means, go wild! This is your tart, your life.

　　

Step 10

Cut another shape, perhaps a rhombus, from a slice of dragon fruit, and fit it next to the kiwi. Continue cutting shapes, alternating among fruits, and puzzling the pieces together on the tart. Build out from your starting point and slowly fill the whole surface, gradually working your way to the other edge.

　　

Step 11

Keep in the refrigerator until ready to serve. This tart is best consumed within two days.

　　Excerpted from Pieometry: Modern Tart Art and Pie Design for the Eye and the Palate by Lauren Ko. Copyright © 2020 by Lauren Ko. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.Buy the full book from Amazon or Bookshop.