Best Classic Strawberry Tart Recipes

CLASSIC STRAWBERRY TART

Steps:

• Prepare the pastry cream, and refrigerate it for at least 4 hours, until cold.
• While the pastry cream is chilling, prepare and bake the tart pastry, setting it aside, at room temperature, to cool completely.
• Sort the strawberries. You will need about 1 1/2 pints, or 20 ounces, to cover the tart. Rinse the berries, remove the hulls, then place them, cut-side down and not touching, on a layer of paper towel on a tray so they can dry completely. If needed, use a hair dryer on a gentle cool setting to make sure the berries are dry.
• Whip the heavy cream until stiff. When the pastry cream is thoroughly chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and fold in the whipped cream until completely incorporated. Spread this mixture over the bottom of the baked tart shell.
• Place the berries on the cream in concentric circles as close to each other as possible. The berries should sit on top of the cream, so don't push them down into it. Refrigerate the tart.
• Place the jelly and the kirsch in a small saucepan, and cook over medium heat until the jelly has melted and starts to bubble. Remove from the heat.
• Remove the tart from the refrigerator, and using a pastry brush, glaze the berries with the warm jelly mixture, giving them a thin but complete coating. Serve at once, or refrigerate -- but not more than a couple of hours, to prevent the pastry from becoming soggy -- until ready to serve. Remove the ring from the pan before serving.

STRAWBERRY TART

Steps:

• Make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, blend flour, butter, 1/3 cup sugar, and salt until moist crumbs form (this may take up to 1 minute). Transfer dough to a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable bottom.
• With floured fingers, press dough evenly into pan and up sides. Dip a dry-measuring cup in flour, and use it to press dough firmly into bottom and against sides of pan. Freeze crust until firm, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Using a fork, prick crust all over. Bake until golden, 25 to 30 minutes, pressing down gently once or twice with a spoon during baking if crust puffs up. Cool completely in pan.
• Make the filling: In a medium bowl, mix cream cheese and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until smooth; spread mixture evenly in bottom of baked crust (still in tart pan).
• Starting from outside edge, arrange strawberry halves, stemmed side down, in tight concentric circles on cream cheese.
• In a small saucepan, heat jelly on medium-low until liquefied. Gently brush strawberries with jelly; let set at least 20 minutes. Chill in pan at least 1 hour (and up to 6 hours); remove from pan just before serving.

FRESH STRAWBERRY TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place pastry dough on a lightly floured work surface. Roll out dough to a round disk about 1/8-inch thick and 12 inches in diameter. Transfer to prepared baking sheet.
• Brush outside 2 inches around the edges of circle lightly with water. Tightly curl up a bit of the edge of the dough to give it a rounder shape with a slightly thickened edge. If some edges are thicker than others, pinch off excess and add to thinner edges forming a circle with even edges. Roll each edge again just once to make the edges thick enough to crimp. Crimp crust with your floured fingers.
• Use a fork to "dock" the bottom surface, covering it with tiny holes to prevent the dough from bubbling up as it bakes.
• Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes. Do not turn off the oven.
• Place cream cheese, creme fraiche, egg yolk, sugar, salt, vanilla, and lemon zest in mixing bowl. Mix together thoroughly. Carefully pour a thin layer of mixture evenly into pastry shell (you may not need all the cheese mixture).
• Transfer filled tart to oven. Bake until cheese layer is set and crust is browned, about 20 minutes. Let tart cool completely to room temperature before adding berries.
• Arrange berries cut side down, pointy end out starting with the larger berries around the edges. You can lean strawberries up a bit as your work your way toward the center. Cut some berry halves in half again to fit into any gaps on the cheese layer.
• Place apricot jam and 2 teaspoons water in saucepan. Heat over low heat until thin enough to brush. Let cool slightly before brushing generously over all berries and crust. Transfer tart to serving plate.

SIMPLEST STRAWBERRY TART

Steps:

• Prepare the crust: Whisk the flours and salt together in a large bowl. Combine apple cider vinegar with 5 tablespoons ice water.
• Working quickly, add butter to the flour mixture and toss to coat. Use your fingers or the palms of your hands to press each cube of butter into the flour, ensuring that each butter piece gets coated, until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-size lumps. If at any time the butter seems warm or soft, briefly refrigerate the bowl. Alternatively, you can pulse the butter and flour together in a food processor.
• Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the cold vinegar-water mixture over the flour mixture. Use a gentle hand or wooden spoon to stir the water into the flour until just combined. If using a food processor, pulse a few more times, or until the dough begins to come together. If the dough seems dry, add more of the cold vinegar-water mixture, a couple of teaspoons at a time. You have added enough water when you can pick up a handful of the dough and easily squeeze it together without it falling apart.
• Form the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight. (Dough keeps for up to 3 months in the freezer wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap and a layer of foil. Thaw in refrigerator before using.)
• Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 400 degrees.
• On a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, roll out the pie crust into an oval about 15 x 6 inches and just under 1/4-inch thick. Use a paring knife or pastry cutter to trim any rough edges and move the parchment paper and crust to a baking sheet, preferably rimless. Dock the crust with a fork to prevent it from puffing up too much in the oven. Brush the surface of the crust from edge to edge with the egg wash.
• Bake until crust is deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Check on the crust halfway through baking; if any bubbles have appeared, use a spatula to press them flat. Cool the crust completely on the pan.
• Prepare the tart: While the crust is cooling, combine mascarpone and 2 tablespoons sugar. Hull the strawberries and cut them into 1/4-inch slices.
• Carefully slide the cooled crust off the baking sheet onto a serving platter or board. Spread mascarpone over the top in an even layer, dot with jam, then arrange sliced strawberries in a single, slightly overlapping layer in a decorative pattern. Sprinkle the tart with the remaining tablespoon of sugar. (Omit this final sprinkling if your strawberries are particularly sweet.) Slice and serve immediately.