Strawberry Pistachio Tart

Strawberry Pistachio tart is a summery dessert with a beautiful and delicious combination of pistachios and strawberries. Top the easily made sable Breton crust with a cream and fruit of your choice to customize the tart!

Summer heat calls for summery desserts! I got an idea of making this Strawberry Pistachio tart some time ago, but was waiting for juicy berries during the summer time!

Wildly known strawberry-pistachio combo brings bright colors and irresistible taste to a dessert. A crunchy sable Breton crust with the pistachio mousseline cream balances texture and flavors of this gorgeous tart. Add your creativity in decoration and upgrade the Strawberry Pistachio tart to a birthday dessert!

What are Other Topping Ideas for Tarts

Make a simple whipped cream to pipe on top of the crust and decorate the tart with the other fruit:

• Raspberries sprinkled with pistachios;
• Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries sprinkled with toasted almonds;
• Pears sprinkled with candied pecans and poured with a bit of caramel;
• Peaches and blackberries sprinkled with toasted almonds;
• Mango with other tropical fruit sprinkled with coconut chips or coconut flakes.

Why Strawberry Pistachio Tart Recipe Works

1. The butter-rich sable Breton crust is a perfect tart base to hold a cream and fruit in making summer desserts.
2. The crispiness and crumbliness of the crust perfectly complement a smooth cream texture and fruit sweetness.
3. Strawberry and Pistachio pairing is one of the top summer combinations in modern pastries.
4. Chilling the unrolled dough for up to five days or freezing it for up to two months gives you time to plan the tart ahead.
5. Making the sable Breton crust one to four days in advance saves you time on the day of serving.
6. Topping the Shortbread crust with another kind of cream and fruit opens huge possibilities in making your own pastries.

How to Make Strawberry Pistachio Tart - Step by Step

To make the sable Breton crust, whisk egg yolks and sugar with an electric mixer to get a creamy and white mixture (photo 1). Add softened butter and mix with a rubber spatula to smooth (photo 2).

Finally, add sifted flour, baking powder, salt and mix again (photo 3). Wrap the dough in a plastic film and refrigerate two hours (photo 4).

Preheat oven to 355 F/180 C. Roll out the dough between two sheets of the parchment paper to thickness of 6 to 7 mm approximately. Place a tart ring of 24 cm in diameter and cut a circle. Keep the tart ring, just remove the excess dough out of the ring (photo 5).

Bake the sable Breton (being in ring) for 15-20 minutes, until slightly browned. Once the crust is ready and still hot, remove the ring immediately and let the crust cool down completely (photo 6).

To make the pistachio mousseline cream, mix egg yolks, sugar and corn starch in a bowl. Bring milk to a boil in a saucepan, add pistachio paste and mix well. Pour boiled milk/pistachio paste mixture over egg preparation, whisking constantly. Transfer mixture back to the saucepan. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove preparation from heat, add 50 g softened butter and mix with the hand whisk (photo 7).

Then pour the cream into a plate, cover with the food film on contact and refrigerate 30 to 60 minutes. Once the cream is cool, remove from the fridge and add the remaining 50 g softened butter. Whisk the cream with the electric mixer till it is smooth and shiny (photo 8).

To assemble the tart, place the sable Breton crust on a serving platter and pipe the pistachio mousseline cream with the open star pastry tip (Wilton 1M) (photo 9). Arrange strawberries, cut in half or quarters, sprinkle with pistachios (photo 10).

Top Tips to Make Strawberry Pistachio Tart

1. Use a top-quality butter to make the sable Breton crust in order to get its crisp and crumbly texture.
2.  Make the mousseline cream on the day of serving. If the cream is lumpy while whisking, it means that the butter was too cool when you added. To solve the problem, just let the cream rest and warm up at room temperature till the butter softens completely. Then beat the cream again.
3. If you even see cool butter pieces in the mousseline cream, just warm up the cream in a microwave for five seconds and stir the mixture. You might need to repeat this process again, then whisk the cream well.
4.  If the mousseline cream seems liquid, just refrigerate for a few minutes and whisk again.
5. Add a few drops of green food color to intensify the color of the cream; although, it is not necessary with a store-bought pistachio paste.
6. Sprinkle the tart with raw pistachios or caramelized nuts covered with icing sugar.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Mousseline Cream?

Mousseline cream (also known as German buttercream) — is a combination of pastry cream and butter as a proportion 2 :1 where 2 cups of pastry cream and 1 cup of softened butter. Check out Paris-Brest dessert with the praline mousseline cream.

What is Sable Breton?

Sable Breton (Sablés Breton in French) is buttery French shortbread cookies originated from the Brittany region, which is in northwestern France. Their name “shortbread” comes from the high ratio of butter in the recipe. These French butter cookies are traditionally served on their own; however, French pastry chefs wildly use them as a tart base. 

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The recipe was originally published in June, 2019. It has been revised to include improved content and photos.