A beautiful strawberry and creme patisserie tart. I made this for a special friend for her special birthday... Happy Birthday Romina.
Ingredients for a 24cm Tart Tin
Shortcut Pastry
All purpose flour 200g
Unsalted good quality butter 100g - plus extra for greasing
Icing sugar 50g
2 free-range egg yolks
Pinch of salt
Lemon zest
Approx 800g of Pastry Cream
Pastry Cream
Whole milk 500g
Caster sugar 140g
A vanilla pod
Egg yolks 6
Sieved Flour 80g
Pinch af Salt
Other Ingredients
Fresh Strawberries 400g
Apricot Jam, about 3-4 tbsp
Clear Gelatine or Apricot Glaze
24cm Tart Tin
Preparing the Pastry Cream
In a saucepan, bring the milk slowly to the boil with the vanilla pod (and the seeds scraped out into the milk). Allow to cool slightly and remove the vanilla pod. In a bowl whisk the egg yolks with the caster sugar. Sift the plain flour, add it to the egg mixture and mix thoroughly. Pour the milk onto the egg mix, whisking continuously. Return to a clean pan and stir with a wooden spatula, bringing it to the boil over a gentle heat until it starts to thicken. Remove from the heat, transfer the pastry cream into a clean bowl and place some clingfilm over the surface. The clingfilm will prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate and chill completely.
The Shortcut Pastry
On a floured surface mix the flour and the butter cut into small pieces together. Mix in the icing sugar, the egg yolks and the lemon zest and work together very quickly to form the pastry dough. Add some cold water if required (not recommended, but in case the dough is too hard). Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes before using.
Roll out the Pastry (approx 4mm thick). Now roll the pastry around your floured rolling pin and unroll it onto the top of your tart tin (already greased with some butter and sprinkled with flour), pressing it gently around the sides. Trim all excess pastry.
Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork, cover and refrigerate for half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line the pastry base with parchment paper and fill it with ceramic beans (or rice or beans), making sure the weight is evenly distributed. Bake for 15 minutes and then remove the weights and bake for further 5-10 minutes, or until the crust is lightly golden brown. Let cool completely before filling.
Assembling the Tart
Spread a thin layer of apricot jam over the bottom and sides of the tart shell. Spread the Pastry Cream into the tart and level with a spatula.
Decorate the tart with the strawberries.
Heat the apricot glaze (or gelatin) and glaze the fruit evenly. Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.
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