Tarte aux Fraises (French Strawberry Tart)

This tarte aux fraises is the perfect summer dessert! A delicious tart filled with pastry cream and then topped with fresh strawberries.

Course Dessert

Cuisine French

Prep Time 2

Cook Time 30

Total Time 2 30

Servings -10, approximately

Author Voula

Equipment

a 9 -11 inch (23-28cm) tart pan with a removable bottom
saucepan
parchment paper
mixing bowls
dried beans, rice or pie weights

Ingredients

For the pâte sucrée (French pastry crust)

2 cups (8.8 oz / 250 g) all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
1 tablespoon sugar
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (125g / 4.4oz) unsalted butter
1 egg yolk
4 tablespoons (1.8 fl oz / 50 ml) ice water

For the French pastry cream

½ cup (100g) sugar
¼ cup (30g) cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
2 cups (500ml) fresh whole milk
4 medium egg yolks
2 tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Garnish

about 15 strawberries (350g / 12.3 oz), washed, stems removed and sliced

Instructions

Make the pate sucree

Add the flour, salt and sugar to a food processor and pulse until combined.
Add the cubed butter, a few at a time (I do it in 3 batches), and pulse until the dough looks like coarse crumbs.
In a small bowl, mix the egg yolk together with the ice water and slowly add it to the flour mixture. Pulse until the dough comes together. The dough is ready when you can hold a piece of it.
On a lightly floured surface, bring the dough together and roll it into a ball.
Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate it for half an hour. The dough really needs time to rest before rolling it out, so don't skip this step.
Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper. Try and make it into a circle that's about ⅛ inch (3mm) thick.
Remove the top parchment paper and flip the dough over the pan and remove the other parchment paper. Then gently lift and press the dough into the pan, but don't stretch or pull it, because this will cause it to shrink while it's baking.
Use the rolling pin on top of edges of the pan to remove any excess dough. You could also use a knife.
Prick the base of the dough with a fork, but don't go all the way through the dough. You just want to prick the surface. Put the dough in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375℉ / 190℃.
Take the dough out of the freezer. Scrunch a piece of parchment paper (make sure it's big enough to cover the bottom and the sides), unroll it and put it inside the pastry.
Fill the parchment paper with dried rice or pie weights, spreading them out evenly.
Bake the tart shell for 15 minutes. Then take it out of the oven and remove the parchment paper with the rice by lifting it out.
Put the pastry back in the oven and bake it for another 10-12 minutes or until it's light golden brown.
Let it cool completely in the pan, on a wire rack.

Make the French pastry cream

In a medium saucepan, add the sugar, salt and cornstarch and whisk everything together really well. (This will help prevent lumps in the pastry cream.)
In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with the milk until they're fully incorporated.
Place the saucepan with the flour mixture on medium heat. Slowly add the egg/milk mixture to the flour mixture and whisk continuously to avoid lumps from forming.
Then add the butter and keep whisking.
While whisking continuously, bring it to a boil and let it bubble up for one whole minute. Then whisk in the vanilla extract.
Take the saucepan off the heat and put the mixture through a strainer over a bowl. Stir it well with a rubber spatula in the sieve and scrape the bottom of the sieve, too.
Cover the cream with plastic wrap and press it onto the surface. This will prevent a skin from forming on top of the pastry cream.
Put the pastry cream in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.

Assemble the tart

Right before serving, take the pastry cream out of the refrigerator and stir it really well with a spatula to loosen it up a bit.
Pour it into the baked tart shell and even it out with a spatula or the back of a spoon. Make sure to spread it out evenly to the edges.
Slice or chop the strawberries and place them on the top of the pastry cream.
Enjoy!

Notes

Store this strawberry tart tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to about 2 days.

Picture Tutorial & Tips

I have a detailed picture tutorial in my post to help you out with each step of the recipe as well as lots of tips to ensure success.

Baking Measurements

I have used weight measurements for all the recipes on this website. Even though I have also included American volume measurements for convenience, I highly recommend using a digital kitchen scale to weigh all ingredients for the most accurate measurements. Digital kitchen scales are more precise than cups, which is so important in baking, and they give the most accurate, consistent results. Happy baking!

The recipe for the pastry cream is slightly adapted from Martha Stewart.com

©Pastry Wishes