This is the perfect time to treat yourself and your family&friends to some delicious French strawberry tart as the strawberries are in season and you see juicy strawberries everywhere now. This classic dessert is a perfect companion for your afternoon tea or family gatherings.
But don’t let the word “French” fool you. This 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 and diplomat cream (crème diplomat) and chopping up some juicy strawberries. It’s also relatively quick to make this tart apart from the waiting times for chilling the pastry and the diplomat cream. If you’re ready, let’s get into it!
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How to Make Strawberry Tart?
Making French Strawberry Tart, despite its French origin, is quite simple. However, to achieve the best results, you need to follow few simple tips:
- Prepare your basic sweet pastry dough – To make the dough, place the flour, butter, icing sugar, salt and almonds 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 in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 180°C. 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 circle. Line a 20 cm 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 and put in the freezer for 30 minutes before blind baking. This step is necessary to avoid the pastry shrinking while blind baking. Preheat the oven to 175° C (fan oven). 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 with the pastry cream.
- Prepare the Diplomat Cream- Diplomat cream (crème diplomat) is a mixture of pastry cream and whipped cream. I like it better using it for tarts or cakes as it has a fluffier texture than the pastry 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 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 into the flour-egg mixture. Whisk well and return 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 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 – 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.
I hope you enjoy the process of making this classic French Strawberry Tart as much as you enjoy eating it! 🙂
Bon appétit! / Afiyet olsun!
French Strawberry Tart
Ingredients
Sweet Pastry Dough
- 150 g plain flour
- 75 g unsalted butter (cold)
- 75 g icing sugar
- 20 g ground almonds
- pinch of salt
- ½ egg (30 g)
Diplomat Cream
- 185 ml milk (full fat)
- 12 g unsalted butter
- ½ TSP vanilla bean paste
- 1½ egg yolks (35g)
- 40 g sugar
- 10 g plain flour
- 12 g cornflour
- 125 ml double cream or whipping cream
For the Decoration
- 500 g strawberries
- 2 tbsp fruit jelly or jam without the fruits for the nappage (diluted with 1 tbsp of water)
Instructions
Making the Sweet Pastry Dough
- Place the flour, butter, icing sugar, salt and almonds 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 in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.
- Once the dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 180°C and let the dough sit at room temperature for 10 minutes until soft enough to roll it but not too soft.
- Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to ½ cm thickness / 23 cm circle and line a 20 cm 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 and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before blind baking.
- Preheat the oven to 175° C (fan oven).
- 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 10 minutes until golden brown.
- Let it cool down on a wire rack before filling with the pastry cream.
Preparing the Diplomat Cream
- Place the milk, vanilla paste 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 into the flour-egg mixture, whisking well and return 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 from the heat. Let it cool down to room temperature.
- When the pastry cream has reached room temperature, start whipping the double cream or whipping cream until you reach stiff peaks.
- Whisk the pastry cream to loosen then fold in the whipped cream gently in 2 stages.
Assembling 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.
Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and tag @cookingorgeous on Instagram and hashtag it #cookingorgeous.
Great pie recipe