Strawberry Tart of Beauty

“Hey Strawberry Tart – That right you over there all gorgeous and stuff”
“Hey Tart, does your crust hurt? Because it must have hurt falling from heaven”


You would totally flirt with this tart if it was sitting in front of you - it is darn gorgeous & tasty.







I delightfully and to everyone else’s delight borrowed this recipe from
Confessions of a Tart



Now on to the dough, perfect specimen it is! I was even able to remove that tart from the tart dish without it breaking – GO ME







INGREDIENTS FOR SHORTBREAD TART

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons; 4 1/2 ounces) very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter cut into small pieces1 large egg yolk


DIRECTIONS for tart crust


Put the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl and whisk together. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and press in with a potato masher—you should have pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time until incorporated. Now work the dough into a ball, use a tablespoon of ice water to help the process along. Wrap in Saran Wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.



Easy peasy - once cold and combined, roll out on floured parchment and place over your buttered and floured pan. Pinch the edges to desired shape. I used a fork dipped in ice water for this affect.






Bake fitted with foil and filled with bean at 375 for 25 minutes, then remove the beans and bake for another 8. Crust will be a gorgeous golden light brown.



INGREDIENTS FOR PASTRY CREAM

2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
2 large eggs
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
3 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract







DIRECTIONS for pastry cream



Pour the milk into a heavy saucepan. Add the salt, place over medium-high heat, and bring to just under a boil, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, whisk together the cornstarch and sugar. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth.



When the milk is ready, slowly drizzle about 1/3 of the hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking continuously. Pour the egg-milk mixture back into the hot milk and continue whisking until the custard is as thick as lightly whipped cream, about 2 minutes. The mixture must come just to the boiling point. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a sieve into a bowl. Stir in the vanilla extract. Let this cool for 10 minutes. Now stir in the butter.



FUN PART TO FOLLOW

Let your inner artist decorate with halved strawberries, blueberries, berry berries! Anything you desire, even chocolate chips would be fine…or plain.



I present my masterpiece in all of its glory