Tart aux Fraises - French Strawberry Custard Tart

Delicious and refreshing Tart aux Fraises - French Strawberry Tart with Custard is the perfect dessert to welcome the start of summer with your loved ones. The strawberries are in season now and you see juicy strawberries everywhere. This classic fruit tart is the perfect choice for your afternoon tea, family gatherings, or a celebration.

Jump to:

• Why This Recipe Works?
• What is Diplomat Cream?
• Ingredients and Substitutes
• How to Make Tart aux Fraises - French Strawberry Custard Tart?
• Top Tips From the Chef
• Recipe FAQs
• Related Recipes
• Tart aux Fraises - French Strawberry Custard Tart

But don't let the word "French" fool you. This Tart aux Fraises - French Strawberry Tart with Custard is not one of those 5 hours, 50 steps, super complicated recipes.

On the contrary, it is a relatively simple recipe and all you need to do is to prepare a basic sweet pastry dough, diplomat cream (a.k.a crème diplomat, a type of thick&delicious French custard), and chop up some juicy strawberries.

It’s also relatively quick to make this French Custard Tart apart from the waiting times for chilling the shortcrust pastry and the diplomat cream.

If you love French cuisine, you might want to have a look at my other French recipes such as Traditional French Onion Soup, Mousse au Chocolat - French Chocolate Mousse, and Chicken Liver Pâté.

Why This Recipe Works?

• This easy Tart aux Fraises - French Strawberry Tart with Custard is so light, refreshing, creamy, and bursting with berry flavors.

• It is a crowd-pleaser and makes 8 servings.

• You can prepare the pastry and creme diplomat a couple of days in advance and store it in the fridge until ready to assemble. 

• This simple strawberry tart recipe is very easy to follow with step-by-step pictures and instructions.

• Tart aux Fraises - French Strawberry Custard Tart is elegant enough for a celebration, but it’s so simple that you can put it together on any day of the week. 

What is Diplomat Cream?

Diplomat cream (crème diplomat) is a custard made with a mixture of pastry cream and whipped cream.

I prefer using it for tarts or cakes such as Chocolate Eclair Cake with Choux Pastry and Strawberry Mille Feuille as it has a fluffier texture than pastry cream.

Ingredients and Substitutes

Sweet Pastry Dough

• Butter - I always use unsalted butter for pastries as I want to be in control of the quantity of salt. Make sure your butter is chilled and put it into the freezer for 10-15 minutes after cutting it into cubes.

• Plain white flour - It is also known as all-purpose flour. It is perfect for making cakes, cookies, pastries, and thickening sauces. Sift it before using it in your pastries.

• Icing Sugar - I use a little amount of icing sugar for my sweet pastry dough to give the tart case a bit of sweetness.

• Almond flour - A small amount of almond flour adds flavor and richness to the pastry.

• Salt - It helps to balance the flavor and enhance other ingredients. Adding a small amount of salt is essential in most dessert recipes.

• Egg - Use a fresh, free-range egg at room temperature.

Diplomat Cream

• Milk - I always use full-fat milk, which is sold in blue bottles in the UK. It is essential to use milk with high-fat content to achieve a rich&delicius custard which is the key element of this French Strawberry tart.

• Sugar - Both granulated and caster sugar works great with this recipe.

• Egg yolks - They add richness and provide structure. Some recipes call for whole eggs however I strongly advise using egg yolk only for the best texture and flavor.

• Vanilla paste - I use vanilla bean paste or extract for deep&delicious vanilla flavor. Avoid using artificial vanilla for making pastry cream.

• Flour - I use plain flour and mix it with cornflour to thicken the pastry cream.

• Butter - Use good quality unsalted butter. It adds shine and flavor to the pastry creme.

• Cream - You can use either double cream/heavy cream or whipping cream to make the creme Chantilly. Make sure it is cold before whisking and keep it refrigerated until you need it. While whipping the cream you have to start on low speed and then gradually increase it. Stop beating the cream when it reaches a pipeable consistency to avoid over-whipping it.

• Strawberries - Use the best fresh strawberries you can find. Frozen strawberries are not suitable for this recipe. You can substitute them with raspberries or any berries that are in season.

• Jam for nappage - Apricot jam is the most popular for glazing fruit tarts in France. But other jams such as strawberry jam, raspberry jam, quince jelly, or peach jam work perfectly too. Pass it through a fine-mesh strainer to discard any chunks or seeds before applying them to your tart.

How to Make Tart aux Fraises - French Strawberry Custard Tart?

Making French Strawberry Tart, despite its French origin, is quite simple. However, to achieve the best results, you need to follow a few simple tips:

Prepare the Sweet Pastry Dough

To make the dough, place the flour, butter, icing sugar, salt, and almond flour in a mixing bowl.

Work the dough by rubbing it between your fingertips. Add the egg and mix using a fork.

Turn the mixture out on a work surface and knead to form a smooth dough without overworking it.

Flatten the dough out slightly, wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 180° C (356° F). Let the dough sit at room temperature for 10 minutes until it’s soft enough to roll but not too soft.

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to ½ cm thickness / 23 cm (9") circle.

Line a 20 cm (8") fluted, loose-bottomed tart tin.

Press the dough firmly against the sides and bottom without stretching it and trim off the excess dough.

Prick the dough all over with a fork, cover it, and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes before blind baking. This step is necessary to avoid the pastry shrinking while blind baking.

Line the tart tin with parchment paper or tin foil, covering the edges to avoid them from burning. Fill with dried chickpeas or rice to prevent the dough from rising and bake for about 15 minutes.

Remove the chickpeas or rice and cook for another 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Let it cool down on a wire rack before filling it with the pastry cream.

Prepare the Diplomat Cream

Start making the diplomat cream while the sweet pastry dough is in the freezer, just before blind baking it.

Place the milk and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove the saucepan from the heat.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture becomes pale and thick.

Add the flour along with the cornflour and whisk to combine.

Add half of the hot milk to the flour-egg mixture. Whisk well until it is pale yellow.

Pour the mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the milk. Return the saucepan to heat and cook until it thickens, whisking continuously.

Let it boil for a minute stirring continuously then remove it from the heat. Let it cool down.

When the pastry cream has reached room temperature, start whipping the double cream or whipping cream until you have stiff peaks.

Whisk the pastry cream to loosen, then gently fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream in 2 stages.

Assemble the Tart aux Fraises - French Strawberry Custard Tart

To assemble the tart, spoon the diplomat cream into the baked sweet pastry shell and level the top with the back of a spoon or a spatula.

Arrange the strawberries over the pastry cream and brush them with nappage.

Please scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredients list with measurements, complete recipe method, recipe notes, and nutritional information.

Top Tips From the Chef

• When making the pastry, make sure your butter is chilled and put it into the freezer for 10-15 minutes after cutting it into cubes.

• Place the pastry dough in the freezer for 30 minutes before blind baking to avoid the pastry shrinking while blind baking.

• Use a tart pan with a removable bottom, which will support the crust when lifting your tart.

• Avoid using substitutes and changing the recipe unless you can reformulate this tart recipe and be able to keep the balance in texture as well as flavor. 

• Always measure your ingredients with a Digital Kitchen Scale.

Recipe FAQs

Related Recipes

For more delicious recipes with strawberries why not try:

Did you make this recipe? Please let me know how it turned out! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.

I hope you enjoy the process of making this delicious Tart aux Fraises - French Strawberry Custard Tart as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂 

Bon appétit! / Afiyet olsun!

This post uses affiliate links. This means that if you click on them and then buy something, we get a small amount of commission to keep the site running, but it doesn’t cost you anything more.