This gorgeous strawberry tart recipe makes a great treat. The shortbread pastry is easy to make, but it does require 2 hours of resting time, so plan ahead. Pascal Aussignac calls for the strawberries to be marinated in rosé wine, adding a memorable flavour to the tart.
Serves: 4
Preparation: 30 minutes plus 2 hours chilling
Cooking: 25 minutes
Ingredients
For the shortbread crust:
● 125g butter
● 60g icing sugar
● 1 egg yolk
● 125g plain flour, plus more for dusting
● 75g ground almonds
● 1/2 tsp baking powder
● 1 pinch of salt
● 3 sprigs of lemon thyme,
leaves picked
For the crème patissière:
● 200ml milk
● 40g sugar
● 2 egg yolks
● 14g cornflour
● 1 vanilla pod, cut and deseeded
For the marinated strawberries:
● 18 strawberries, roughly quartered
● 30ml of rosé wine
● 1 tsp caster sugar
● 1 tbsp clear honey
Method
● For the pastry: cream the butter and sugar together to form a smooth paste. Add flour, ground almonds, salt and baking powder. Crumble between your fingertips to form a crumb-like texture.
● Add the yolk and the thyme and crumble the mix until a dough is moulded. When the dough is prepared, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours.
● When the dough has rested, preheat the oven to 160ºC/gas mark 3. Lightly flour the workspace and roll the dough to ½ cm thickness. Line a 22cm loose based tart tin with the dough, making the sides 1cm high.
● Bake for 13 minutes until lightly golden. Cool the pastry in the tin.
● For crème patissière: pour the milk and vanilla pod in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, mix the sugar and the egg yolk in a separate bowl until creamy and smooth. Add the cornflour and continue to whisk.
● When the milk has come to boil, pour half the milk into the bowl of eggs and sugar, whisking thoroughly, then return the mixture to the pan and continue to beat on a low heat, returning to a steady boil. Cook for 3 minutes after boiling.
● Spread the crème patissière on a tray, cover securely with cling film and refrigerate. When chilled, place it in a bowl and gently beat until smooth. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
● To make the marinated strawberries: put the halved or quartered strawberries into a bowl. Add the sugar, rosé wine and honey. Mix until all the berries are coated.
● Before serving, spread a generous 1cm layer of crème patissière on your tart and place the marinated strawberries on top. Drizzle the surplus marinade over the tart to glaze.
