Try your hand at these strawberry tarts before strawberry season ends!
Makes 8
Prep time 1.30 mins
Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry
White flour, 200g
Icing sugar, 30g
Salt, 5g
Cold butter, 100g
Egg, 1
Ingredients for the strawberry coulis
Strawberries, 300g
Jam sugar, 100g
Lemon, juice of 1
Rum or whiskey, 10g
Ingredients for the vanilla pastry cream
Egg, 1
Cornflour, 16g
Whole milk, 120g
Cream, 120g
Sugar, 35g
Butter, 25g
Vanilla pod, 1, optional
Method
In a large bowl or food processor, add the flour, sugar and salt. Pulse to combine until a wet sand like texture is achieved. Add the egg and mix until a ball of dough has formed. Place in plastic wrap a leave to rest in the fridge.
After 45minutes, remove the dough from the fridge a place on a well-floured work surface.
Roll out disks the size of your tartlet cases and a long strip for the sides. Blind bake pastry for about 20 minutes at 190 C. Once cooked, transfer to a wire rack to cool.
For the pastry cream, in a small bowl whisk together the egg and corn flour until well combined and no lumps remain. In a pot, add the vanilla seeds and heat the milk, cream and sugar until it comes to a boil.
Add a ladle of hot liquid to the egg mixture while whisking. Add up to half of the liquid to the egg and then transfer everything back to the pot. Cook the cream while constantly whisking. Once it has thickened slightly, cook it at a boil for a full minute (while still whisking).
After a minute take it off the heat and allow to cool for about 30 seconds.
Whisk in cubes of cold butter to the cream until fully incorporated. When ready quickly transfer to piping bag or place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the cream to prevent a skin from forming.
To make the strawberry coulis remove the strawberry leaves, wash and set aside. Add strawberries to a blender and liquidize. In a heavy bottomed pot, add your strawberry juice, sugar and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and try to avoid stirring or adjusting the heat in the process.
Add your alcohol of choice. After about 5 minutes, give the mixture a stir and take a teaspoon of the jam and place it on your plate. If it cools to a consistency that is thick then the coulis is ready. If it’s still a little runny then continue to cook for a few more minutes.
To assemble place a pastry case onto a plate, spoon in enough coulis to cover the bottom, pipe in a layer of pastry cream and garnish carefully with fresh strawberry halves in a circular pattern.
