When I hear “strawberry tart” my eyes turn into little hearts — it’s a dessert I absolutely adore. It’s easy to make at home, but it’s always a bit tricky to get perfect, especially when you don’t make shortcrust pastry often. Have you noticed? If you make shortcrust rarely it can come out different each time, even if you always use the same trusted ingredients. What makes the difference is the handling. The grandmothers who made it more often used the classic fountain on the work surface with flour and sugar, then they added eggs and usually softened butter in the center. I found a very easy way to prepare it that makes it firm and compact, even without chilling in the fridge. This way, even if I make tarts infrequently, the pastry always turns out perfect. Shall we spend a couple of words on the filling? Fresh strawberries — nothing else needed; add a little lemon and sugar if the berries aren’t sweet enough. Alternatively, a good strawberry jam works well; look for low- or no-sugar options, it will be even better. You can also use my strawberry cream as a filling — quick and delicious with strawberries, egg-free and dairy-free; adjust the sugar to taste. Here’s the recipe: strawberry cream without milk or eggs.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 8
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, All seasons
Ingredients for the strawberry tart
- 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 medium eggs
- 7 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder (optional)
- lemon zest
- 3 cups strawberries
- 1/2 cup sugar
- lemon juice to taste
- 1 tsp baking soda
Tools for the fresh strawberry tart
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Rolling pin
- 1 Tart pan
- 1 Small saucepan
- 1 Grater
- 1 Kitchen spatula
Preparation steps for the strawberry tart
Wash the strawberries well following this tutorial. Wash the berries with water and baking soda, then dry them, remove the stems and cut them into quarters. Put them in a small saucepan with the sugar and lemon juice. Grate the lemon zest into a bowl for the pastry.
Cook the strawberries for about 30 minutes, until you reach the desired jam consistency — fairly thick; test it on a small plate. If you want it firmer you can add a bit of starch while cooking or even after, before spreading it over the pastry base. Let it cool.
In a bowl with the grated lemon zest, add the flour, baking powder, sugar and cold butter cut into cubes. Work by hand until you get a sandy texture. Finally add the eggs and quickly work to form a smooth dough. Let it rest a little in the fridge, at least while the jam cools.
On a floured surface, roll out about two-thirds of the dough to line a 9.5-inch tart pan. No need to flour or butter the pan. Roll the dough with a rolling pin into a disk about 3/16 inch thick. Flour well the side of the dough that you place on the pan, covering the rim as well.
Dock the entire base with the tines of a fork so the pastry bakes evenly and doesn’t puff up. Cover with the cooled strawberry jam.
Roll out the remaining dough and cut strips to decorate. From the leftover dough I made decorations using cookie cutters to add decorations to the tart.
I made little leaves and flowers from pastry and attached them to the strips. Then I baked the tart in a preheated conventional oven at 356°F for about 40 minutes, until the pastry was nicely golden. I let it cool well in the pan before transferring to a platter and dusting lightly with powdered sugar.
