An elegant and refreshing tart featuring a crispy shortcrust pastry, a silky pastry cream, and fresh strawberries gleaming with apricot glaze. This quintessential summer dessert will delight your guests with its indulgent simplicity and delicate flavors.
⏱️120 min
📊Medium
👥8 servings
🍽️Dessert
vegetarianfestivefamily
Ingredients
250 gflour
125 gcold butter cut into cubes
1 pièceegg
50 ggranulated sugar
1 pincéefine salt
250 mlmilk
3 piècesegg yolks
40 gcornstarch
30 gvanilla sugar
500 gfresh strawberries
100 gdried apricots or apricot jam
2 cuillère à soupewater
Instructions
1PREPARE THE SHORTCRUST PASTRY: In a bowl, pour the flour and salt. Add the cold butter cut into small cubes and work with your fingertips until you achieve a granular texture resembling damp sand. This technique is essential to preserve the pastry's crispness. Create a well in the center, crack the egg into it with the granulated sugar, then gradually incorporate the dry ingredients by mixing gently.
2SHAPE AND REST THE PASTRY: Gather the pastry into a ball without overworking it, as this would make it tough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, ideally 1 hour. This resting period allows the gluten to relax and the butter to distribute evenly, ensuring a crispy pastry that is easy to roll out without breaking.
3ROLL OUT AND BLIND BAKE THE PASTRY: Preheat your oven to 200°C. Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the pastry with a rolling pin to 3 mm thickness. Carefully transfer it to a buttered 28 cm tart pan. Prick the bottom with a fork to prevent bubbles. Cover with parchment paper and fill with baking beans or dried beans, then bake for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and paper, then continue baking for 5 minutes until golden brown.
4PREPARE THE PASTRY CREAM: Bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with vanilla sugar and cornstarch until you achieve a pale and homogeneous mixture. Gradually pour the boiling milk over this mixture while whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Return the preparation to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring vigorously with a whisk until thickened, approximately 2-3 minutes. The cream should thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon without running.
5FILL THE TART: Pour the hot pastry cream into the cooled tart shell and smooth the surface with a spatula. Let cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate for 20 to 30 minutes until the cream is firm. This step is important as it will facilitate arranging the strawberries and allow the cream to hold together when sliced.
6FINISH WITH STRAWBERRIES AND GLAZE: Rinse the fresh strawberries, pat them dry gently, and remove the stems. Arrange them prettily on the tart, pressing them slightly into the pastry cream. Prepare a glaze by melting the dried apricots with 2 tablespoons of water over low heat, then sieve or crush to obtain a smooth paste. Gently brush the glaze over each strawberry with a pastry brush, which will make them shine and protect them from oxidation. Serve chilled but not frozen, ideally after 1 hour of resting in the refrigerator.