“S
imple, yet delicious!” – this appears to become my mantra these days, and why not – it is a win-win combination, don’t you agree?! So, today I’ll show you how to make simple – yet freakishly delicious strawberry tarts! You only need four components – almond shortcrust pastry, strawberry jelly, crème pâtissière and fresh strawberries – and about one hour of your time! Easy,right?
Almond Shortcrust Pastry
I love almond shortcrust pastry, or as the French call it “pâte sablée”! This pastry contains a small quantity of almond flour, and because of that you don’t have to use baking weights when baking your tarts! Awesome, right?
Now, if you have never made any type of shortcrust pastry, you can read about that in my post. Also, you can learn how to line a tart mold and bake the tart shell with regular shortcrust pastry and baking weights in a traditional tart mold.
For my strawberry tarts recipe I’m using stainless steel perforated tart molds, and the technique for lining those is completely different than the traditional one. If you, however don’t have those molds, you can by all means use this same pastry to make one large traditional tart in your trusty old removable bottom tart mold with fluted sides! So, line your tart mold the same way – roll out the pastry, tuck it into the mold, and remove the excess dough. As an added benefit, you don’t need to use baking weights! Just chill your pastry well after lining the mold, and you’re good to go! You gotta love almond pâte sablée!
How to Make Pastry Cream
Crème pâtissière or pastry cream is one of the pastry basic techniques! I have elaborate post and video about crème pâtissière, and its variants! Today I’m using simple, traditional vanilla pastry cream, with some butter added to fill my strawberry tarts. As I already said – simple and delicious!
Strawberries – Delicious and Healthy Fruit
Have I already mentioned that strawberries are my favorite fruit? Well, they are! In fact, I have one whole intro on this subject, so if you want to learn a lot about strawberries check my strawberry panna cotta post! :)
Deliciously juicy, sweet and tangy at the same time, these beautiful red berries are regular residents of my overfilled fridge. I love them fresh and well chilled, but I also don’t mind crispy strawberry vol-au-vents, vanilla and strawberry mille-feuille, or strawberry panna cotta every now and then. Today, I’m making one of the French classics – strawberry tarts or “tartes aux fraises”!
Strawberry Tarts Recipe
by:Tereza Alabanda,The Pastry Maestra
PRINT PDF (EN) ISPIŠI PDF (HR)Prep. time : 40 minutes
Cook time : 15 minutes
Ready in 55 minutes
Level : Advanced
Ingredients: Almond Shortcrust Pastry:- All purpose flour 200g (7oz)
- Almond flour 20g (0.7oz)
- Powdered sugar 50g (1.8oz)
- Butter 125g (4.4oz)
- Vanilla powder
- Egg yolks 30g (1oz or 2 small egg yolks)
- Strawberry puree 100g (3.5oz)
- Sugar 30g (1oz)
- Gelatin 3g (1.5 sheets)
- Milk 250g (4.4oz)
- Egg yolks 60g (2.1oz or 3 medium egg yolks)
- Sugar 65g (2.3oz)
- All purpose flour 15g (5Tsp)
- Corn starch 10g (4Tsp)
- Vanilla powder to taste
- Butter 30g (1oz)
- Fresh strawberries 250g (4.4oz)
- Chopped pistachios
- Daisies
- To make shortcrust pastry place sifted flour into a large bowl. Add sifted almond flour, powdered sugar and vanilla powder, and stir with a whisk. Then, add cold butter cut in cubes, and rub the dry ingredients into the butter with your fingertips until you get crumbly mixture. Add egg yolks, and make the dough. Wrap it in plastic foil and leave it in the fridge for about one hour.
- Place a piece of parchment paper onto your counter and put half of the dough onto it. Cover the pastry with another sheet of parchment paper and roll out the dough to 3mm (1⁄8“) thickness using an adjustable rolling pin. Roll from the center towards one end, at the same time holding the opposite side of the paper with your hand, so the paper doesn’t slide. Put everything in the freezer for about 20 minutes to chill. Repeat the procedure with remaining pastry.
- The diameter of my round perforated tart rings is 7cm (2.7″), and their circumference is 23cm (9″).
- First cut six, approximately 2.5cm (1″) wide strips that will be the sides of your tarts. Then, cut out discs about 6.5cm (2.5″) in diameter for the bottom of your tarts.
- Place your tart mold onto a perforated silicone mat. First carefully line the sides of the mold with pastry strip. Cut the excess pastry and smooth it with your fingers. Then, insert the pastry disc into the mold and smooth the bottom with your fingers. Finally you need to trim the sides of your tart. Using mold as a guide trim the excess pastry with your small knife. Put lined molds in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes.
- When the pastry is chilled, dock the bottom with a fork, and bake your tarts at 170°C (340°F) for about 10 minutes. Then, brush their interior with egg wash and put them back in the oven for another 2 minutes. Leave them to cool down completely.
- To make strawberry jelly soak gelatin in cold water. As soon as the gelatin softens, take it out and squeeze to get rid of the excess water. Put strawberry puree into a bowl, add sugar and stir with a whisk. Heat up this mixture in the microwave. When the puree is hot, add soaked gelatin and stir until it melts.
- Pour the mixture into the tarts until you cover their bottom. Put them in the fridge until the jelly sets.
- To make crème pâtissière put the milk, half of sugar and vanilla powder into a large saucepan and put on the stove. Whisk the egg yolks with the rest of the sugar. Add sifted flour and cornstarch and whisk to combine. When the milk is hot, temper the yolk mixture with approximately one half of the heated milk. Stir well and return the yolk mixture to the saucepan, put back on the stove and cook stirring vigorously until the cream boils and thickens. Allow pastry cream to boil for another 2 minutes stirring constantly so the starch cooks thoroughly. Remove the cream from the stove, immediately add softened butter, and stir until it melts. Pour the cream into a clean bowl. Cover it by placing plastic wrap onto the surface of the cream and leave it to cool down. Whisk cold cream in a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment until it becomes smooth.
- Put cream into a piping bag fitted with round 12mm (1⁄4“) tip, and fill the tarts all the way to the top. Smooth the cream with a small spatula.
- Wash strawberries and cut them in half lengthwise. Arrange them on the cream.
- Sprinkle some chopped pistachios on the top, and decorate with fresh daisies.
- There, your beautiful strawberry tarts are done. Enjoy!
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