French Strawberry Tart with Garden Strawberries

Nothing says “Summer” like fresh, flavorful, juicy, ripe strawberries! I have two large strawberry patches that provide an abundance of fresh berries each summer. I usually have more than I know what to do with, which leads to oodles of strawberry jam and bags of freeze dried strawberries. This year, my “one” chipmunk must have invited all of his extended family to move to my house! I have been battling the chipmunks in a race to see who can harvest the ripe berries first…… It does seem as if I’m winning, but, I do notice quite a few less berries this summer than in summers past. I did, however, end up with enough berries to make a lovely French Strawberry Tart.

In addition to my usual strawberry jam, snacking berries, freeze dried berries, strawberry shortcake, and berry smoothies, this year I decided I would try to mimic the French Strawberry tarts that I saw while in Paris. The beauty and artful presentation left an impression.

One little trick that I used for this particular tart, was the use of a springform pan in lieu a tart pan, since mine is nowhere to be found. I really liked the result of the crust in the springform pan, plus, using it instead of a tart pan, one can cut down on kitchen equipment.

The Strawberry tart ended up tasting as good, if not better, than it looked! As far as effort to results ratio, the results far outweighed the amount of effort put in. The creamy pastry cream balanced out the sweetness of the fresh berries….. all on top of the buttery shortbread crust. This would be perfect for a dinner party dessert….. or even a Sunday brunch.

Equipment

9" Tart Pan If you don't have a tart pan, a 9" springform pan works as well

Ingredients

"Shortbread" Tart Shell

1 ½ Cup (195 grams) All Purpose Flour *Can be Substituted with All Purpose Einkorn Flour
1/2 Cup (60 grams) Confectioner's Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
9 Tbsp (130 grams) Salted, Very Cold Butter, cut into small pieces
1 Large Egg, beat

Vanilla Pastry Cream

1 ¼ Cup Whole Milk
1 ¼ tsp Vanilla Extract
3 Large Egg Yolks
1/2 Cup (100 grams) Sugar
3 Tbsp (30 grams) Cornstarch
3½ Tbsp Salted Butter, room temperature, cut into bits

Topping

3-4 Cups Strawberries, halved and de-stemmed
2 Tbsp Apricot Jam

Instructions

Easy, No-Roll "Shortbread" Crust

Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse a couple times to mix. Drop the cut pieces of VERY cold butter in, taking care to disperse them across the entire area. Pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in, and is roughly the size of peas.
Add the egg, a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. The dough will start to come together in large clumps.
Once it has combined into a few large clumps, turn out onto work surface and lightly knead in any stray pieces. Next, press your dough evenly across the bottom, and up sides of your tart pan (if using a springform pan, build your dough up the sides about 1-1.5"). Take care not to overwork the dough, as you want it to retain its light, shortbread texture. Use a fork to puncture the crust all over the bottom.
Pop the crust into the freezer for about 45-60 minutes before baking. Don't skip this step, as it is the freezing that enables you to skip the pie weights (if you so desire).
Heat the oven to 375℉. Spray foil with nonstick spray (or coat it with butter). Press it tightly onto your crust, nonstick side down. It isn't necessary, but if you feel so inclined, add pie weights (or dried rice/beans/lentils in place of pie weights) to the coated foil. Bake the crust for 20-25 minutes.
Remove crust from oven. Carefully take the foil off and gently press any "puffs" down with the back of a spoon. Pop it back in the oven to bake it to a nice golden brown, about 10 more minutes. You will want to make sure that it is nice and golden brown, since that color is a sign of a flavorful crust. Transfer baked crust to a rack and cool to room temperature.

Vanilla Pastry Cream

Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Meanwhile, in a separate, medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan, whisk the yolks together with the sugar and cornstarch until thick and pale. Whisking continuously, slowly drizzle in about ¼ cup of the hot milk, which will temper your yolks. Then, still whisking, add the remaining milk in a steady stream over the tempered yolks.
Put the pan over medium heat, whisking continuously, and thoroughly, bring the mixture to a boil. Whisk and boil for 1-2 minutes, remove from heat. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Whisk in butter and vanilla extract until completely combined and the mixture is silky smooth.
Scrape the pastry cream into a bowl. You can press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface of the custard to create an airtight seal, and pop it in the fridge until completely cooled. Alternately, if you want it cooled quicker, you can set the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water, stirring occasionally until it is thoroughly chilled, about 20 minutes.

Assembling and Topping

Un-mold the crust, and place on serving plate. Pour cooled pastry cream into cooled crust. Spread evenly with offset spatula for a smooth finished top.
Gently arrange halved strawberries in a circular pattern, cut side down, from the middle outward toward the edge.
Warm the apricot jam in the microwave for 15 seconds and pass it through a fine mesh strainer if needed, removing any possible fruit chunks. Gently brush the melted jam over the strawberries.
Chill the tart for at least an hour prior to serving.

French Strawberry Tart (Tarte aux Fraises)