Strawberry Tartlets
Nothing new under the sun, this are just classic delicious strawberry tartlets!
This is my go to recipe that stays true to the Italian strawberry tarts which are simply made with strawberries and creme diplomate. No frangipane or jam or any other element to complicate the recipe.
Enjoy!
Ingredients
Crust
180g plain flour
90g butter
75g caster sugar
30g eggs
Zest of 1 lemon
1 pinch of salt
Creme Diplomate
250ml whole milk
60g caster sugar
3 egg yolks
15g cornflour
1 gelatine leaf /2g gelatine
1 vanilla pod
150ml double cream
200g of strawberries
2 tbsp of apricot jam
Step by Step
The Tart Shell
Cream the butter with the sugar until fluffy. You can use your stand mixer or a hand held one
Add in the egg and mix
Add in the flour, salt and lemon zest
As soon as the dough starts coming together stop you mixer and use your hands to bring it together. Form a ball and press it down with your hands to create a disc. Wrap in cling film and rest it in the fridge for at least 2h
After 2h take it out of the fridge and roll it out between to sheets of parchment paper
You can use it to line 1 single 8 inch tart case or 6 to 8 individual tartlet rings (depending on the size!)
Once you’ve lined your tart case or tartlet rings, place them in the fridge for 30 min
Blind bake it in a preheated oven at 180g until fully baked. This would roughly take 30 to 40 mins for a single tart and 20 mins roughly for the individual tartlets.
I blind baked my tartlets without baking beans but feel free to use the technique that works best for you
The Cream
In a bowl with water and ice bloom your gelatine
In a deep pan add the milk and half of the sugar and the seeds from the vanilla pod. Heat it up until you start seeing steam coming out of the pan
In a separate bowl mix hand whisk the eggs with the remaining sugar. Once it’s mixed, add the cornflour and keep whisking until you get a thick cream
Once your milk is hot and your eggs are whisked, pour a small part of the milk in the egg mix and whisk vigorously to combine. Add a bit more milk and repeat. You want to roughly pour 2/3 of your milk in the egg mix. Once you’ve done this, pour the liquid from the bowl back in the pan. Heat it up and mix continuously until your cream thickens.
Take the gelatine out of the water, squeeze out any excess liquid and add the gelatine in your cream. Mix until combined (the gelatine will melt). Put it aside your crea,, cover it and let it cool down.
Separately whip your double cream to soft peaks
Once your cream has cooled down completely, gently fold in your whipped cream. Do it gently and in batches as you want to incorporate as much air as you can and you want to make sure that your whipped cream doesn’t deflate. I would normally fold in my whipped cream in 3 batches. You can use a silicone spatula or a hand held whisk for this. Your creme diplomate is ready!
Assembling the tart
You tart shell should be completely cooled down by now. Add in the cream
Separately wash and cut the strawberries in your desired shape
Decorate your tart/tartlet as you wish
In a small pan heat up the apricot jam and mix it with a tablespoon of water. Use a brush to polish your strawberries with the jam mix. This will make them nice and shiny!
Rest the tart in the fridge for a couple of hours
Enjoy!
Tips & cheats
Always rest your pastry in the fridge!
If you bake your pastry when chilled you’ll have more chances to get a nice and even baked shell.
If you don’t have much time in your hands you can use the freezer instead. This will cut the waiting times. If I use the freezer, 15 min rest time before baking are normally enough.
You can top these tartlets with any seasonal fruit!
