Easy Strawberry Tart Recipe

This fresh strawberry tart is made with a buttery shortcrust pastry filled with vanilla pastry cream and dressed with slices of seasonal strawberries. A surprisingly simple and easy dessert that can be made ahead of time.

Table of Content

• About this tart
• Ingredients and substitutes
• Step by step instructions
• Frequently asked questions
• You may also like
• Printable Recipe
• Join the conversation

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Recently, I took this tart with me over to the cousins for dinner and everybody was amazed at how perfect the tart was. And, they refused to believe that this is an easy dessert.

One of my absolute favorite fruits is strawberries. Love them in any form from jams, to macarons and entremets. Have you seen my Bavarian cream or Bavarian cake yet? Check out my over 30 strawberry treats.

About this tart

This fruit tart is the absolute classic using strawberries. You can make it with almost any fruit or a combination of fruits. There are three components to making this tart.

• The pastry - the sweet shortcrust pastry is easy to make yourself but you can certainly use store-bought ready to roll shortcrust. Alternatively, you can also use a cookie crust instead.

• Pastry cream - made with eggs, milk, cream this is rich, creamy, and delicious. You can make it up to 2 days ahead of time and keep it in the fridge until you are ready to use it. Below given you my one-pot pastry cream method but you can also use the classic pastry cream method.

• Fresh fruits - Today, I'm using strawberries because strawberries are in season. You can use blueberries as we did in our  Blueberry Tart. And, you can also use other fruits raspberry tart, blackberries tart, kiwi tart, mango tart, or a combination of fruits.

The timeline for making this tart

• Prepare shortcrust pastry dough - 10 mins
• Chill pastry dough - 15 mins
• Roll and bake pastry shell - 25 mins
• Prepare pastry cream - 20 mins
• Chill pastry cream - 15 mins
• Assemble and glaze - 15 mins

Ingredients and substitutes

• Butter - You want to use unsalted butter - the color of your butter will determine the color of your pastry. I'm using pale white butter. If you can't find unsalted butter, go ahead and use salted butter, but omit the additional salt in the recipe.
• Chilled water - We need to keep the butter in the pastry cold at all times until baking which is one reason we use chilled or ice water. Also, we use very little water because our goal is to keep the pastry crumbly. Adding more water will take that crumbly texture away and give us a tough dough.
• Sugar - Always keep the filling and crust in mind when altering a recipe. You can omit the sugar in the shortcrust pastry, but make sure the creme patisserie is the right sweetness for you. I like to balance the sugar between all elements in a dessert, so a little sugar in both works best for me.
• Milk - Use regular full-fat milk, not low-fat milk. The milk is one of the main ingredients here, so make sure you use at least 3% fat. Low fat will just not thicken enough.
• Egg yolks - This gives the pastry that crumbly biscuit-like texture. The egg yolks also contribute to the color of the final product.
• Vanilla - Always use good quality vanilla. It does make a huge difference. I use a vanilla bean in my pastry cream and vanilla extract in the shortcrust pastry.
• Flour - I am using flour instead of cornstarch and that is because it makes the pastry cream thick. A thicker consistency of pastry cream means you can cut pretty slices, not a messy tart.

Step by step instructions

Shortcrust Pastry

• Measure the flour, salt, and sugar in the food processor.
• Give it one or two pulses to combine then add the chilled cubed butter
• Pulse for 30 seconds at a time until you have a breadcrumb consistency.
• Add the ice water and pulse 10 seconds more.
• Pour mixture on a floured surface and gather it all into a ball. Flatten the ball into a disc and chill for 30 minutes.
• When chilled lightly roll on a floured surface to about ⅛ thickness.
• Transfer over a rolling pin to a 9-inch tart pan. Fit the pastry to the tart pan gently with your hands.
• Cut off any excess and place pastry in the fridge for 10 mins while you preheat the oven.
• Preheat the oven at 180 C / 375 F
• Dock the chilled pastry tart with the tings of a fork. Line the pastry tart with parchment paper
• Pour baking beans or pie weights to come up to the sides. Bake the shell with pie weight/beans for 15 mins
• Remove the beans/weight and paper carefully. Bake for further 10 to 15 mins until lightly golden.
• Set aside to cool completely (do not remove from the pan)

Pastry Cream/Creme Patissiere

• In a saucepan, whisk together the eggs, sugar, flour, vanilla bean paste, and salt.
• Make sure you combine thoroughly with a whisk so there are no lumps
• Gradually, add the milk a little at a time to prevent lumps.
• Place the saucepan on medium heat and let the mixture come to an almost boil
• Keep stirring with a whisk at all times - taking it off the heat if necessary to prevent curdling.
• Add the butter and continue to whisk.
• Let come to a boil for a minute, this will get the cornstarch to thicken (you won't really see bubbles in the boil but it will be at that temperature).
• Remove from heat. Strain the pastry cream thru a sieve or mesh to remove any curdled egg.
• Cover the surface of the pastry cream with plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before using. You can keep this in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.

Assemble

• Sort fresh strawberries per their size and cut them into slices.
• Use a whisk and mix it thoroughly before using it. Spoon the pastry cream into the baked and cooled shortcrust pastry. (do not remove from the tart pan)
• Fill no more than the rim of the tart leaving enough space to add the strawberries. Level the top with the back of a spoon.
• Arrange the strawberry slices starting from the edge of the pastry using the large strawberry slices.
• Continue layering them as thick or thinly as you want until you reach the center.

Glaze the strawberries

• Warm the jam or jelly with 2 tablespoon water in a microwave-safe bowl.
• Using a pastry brush, glaze the strawberry slices with the melted jam or jelly.
• Leave to sit for 2 minutes. Place in the fridge to cool until ready to serve.
• When ready to serve remove the tart from the pan carefully and place it on a serving platter or cake stand.

Frequently asked questions

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