The cream and strawberry tart is a fresh, delicious, and easy-to-make dessert with the main fruit of spring. A tart that will be excellent as a birthday party dessert or even better for Mother’s Day.
For decoration, you can choose the strawberries you prefer: large, small, wild strawberries; the important thing is that they are fresh, red, and nicely firm! You can sprinkle with powdered sugar or, if you want a shiny surface, brush with apricot jam.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 9-inch pan
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
CREAM AND STRAWBERRY TART
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 eggs (1 whole and 1 yolk)
- 1/2 cup butter
- lemon zest
- 1 packet vanillin
- 2 cups milk
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- lemon zest
- 9 oz strawberries
CREAM AND STRAWBERRY TART
To make our fruit tart, first we need to prepare the shortcrust pastry. Below are two ways to do it, choose the one you prefer.
1) classic method
Work the butter with sugar without whipping it.
Then add the eggs one by one and subsequently the flour and the aromas, then knead everything with a stand mixer with the hook attachment.
2) sandy method
Using this method, you will get a crumbly pastry, characterized by a much higher friability than the classic method.
Proceed by making a classic well on the pastry board. Add the butter and begin to combine with the flour using your fingertips, then add the sugar and then the eggs. Knead until you get a homogeneous and non-sticky dough.
Regardless of the method used, the next step is to wrap the formed dough in a sheet of plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator.
Ideally for at least 2 hours, but if you don’t have all that time, even 30 minutes will suffice.
Heat the milk without bringing it to a boil.
Meanwhile, beat the yolks with the sugar, and when they are fluffy, incorporate the flour.
Start pouring the milk, which should be hot, but not boiling, onto the egg mixture while stirring vigorously and cook until the cream thickens. At the end of cooking, add the vanillin (alternative to vanilla bean)
Transfer it to a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap in contact to prevent the surface from hardening, creating annoying lumps, and let it cool.
When the pastry is cold, roll it out to a thickness of 1/4 inch in a perfectly buttered and floured mold. Trim the edges and prick with the tines of a fork.
Crumple a sheet of parchment paper, making it as soft as possible and place it in the chilled tart shell. Add beans inside the parchment paper.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F, in the middle part for about 20 minutes. Finally, lift the sheet carefully to avoid spilling the beans and continue baking for another 10 minutes until golden. If you have a perforated ring, you can bake the pastry without using parchment paper and beans.
Remove from oven and let cool. When it is cold, start composing the strawberry tart.
Take the cream from the fridge and stir it a little with a hand whisk and place it in the pastry shell, which you have placed on a plate or tray. You can scoop it in or use a piping bag.
Clean the strawberries with a slightly damp cloth and dry them very well! Even a few drops of water can soften the mixture! Cut and arrange them on the cream as you like.
The Cream and strawberry tart is ready.
Leave in the fridge for 15 minutes before serving.
