French Strawberry Tart (Tarte aux Fraises)

Fresh, sweet, summery, and fruity is what this French strawberry tart (Tarte aux fraises in French) highlights. Juicy strawberries, almond cream, vanilla custard, and puff pastry go well in this classic French dessert.

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You cannot go wrong with this amazing strawberry tart or Tarte aux fraises in French.

If you look for a delicious strawberry dessert, this tart is your perfect pick.

Starting a strawberry season in early may, Tarte aux fraises is sold in almost every bakery or boulangerie in France.

Traditionally, sandy crust or pâte sablée represents the tart shell. Although, puff pastry to make a tart base is wildly used by French chefs as well.

A delicious vanilla pastry cream known as crème pâtissière is another component of French strawberry tart.

It is usually used as a base for making different French desserts, especially fresh fruit tarts or Tarte aux fruits in French.

Another wildly made layer of French strawberry and red fruit tarts is almond cream (crème d’amande) baked in a pastry shell.

And finally, seasonal strawberries glazed with apricot jam are the stars of the dessert.

What is tarte aux fraises

Tarte aux fraises is a classic French dessert made with buttery tart crust, pastry cream, and fresh strawberries.

"Tarte aux fraises" is translated as strawberry tart in English, where "tarte" means tart and "fraises" means strawberries.

Why you should try this recipe

1. This classic tart is a traditional French dessert. If you love French cuisine, this tart is a must-make.
2. Its recipe with a make-ahead option helps manage your time on the day of serving.
3. It is a perfect summer dessert with lovely taste that highlights a strawberry season.

Ingredients

Here is a quick overview of what ingredients you will need. Follow the full recipe below for exact amounts and instructions. I recommend making this recipe as written for the best results. 

Puff pastry: use frozen ready-rolled puff pastry or roll it between two parchment paper sheets.

Butter: use salted softened butter (not cold butter) for the almond cream and unsalted butter to make the pastry cream.

Sugar: use golden brown sugar to make the almond cream and granulated white or caster sugar for the rest of the dessert.

Ground almonds: grind slivered almonds yourself or use almond flour.

Eggs: use an egg separator to separate egg yolks from the whites. Then bring egg yolks and required whole large eggs to room temperature.

Milk: the recipe calls for whole milk.

Corn starch: it is used to make crème pâtissière. Replace it with all-purpose flour if desired.

Vanilla bean: use the most flavorful Madagascar vanilla beans. You can replace the vanilla bean with 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract.

Strawberries: choose seasonal ripe strawberries sold in local farmer's markets or picked at farms.

Hull the berries, but leave some of them with green tops. Sort strawberries according to the size to facilitate the tart decoration.

Icing sugar and pistachios: it is optional to sprinkle the dessert with icing (powdered) sugar and/or chopped pistachios.

How to make French strawberry tart

To make the almond cream, mix softened butter, ground almonds, and sugar in a large bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add the egg and gently mix to combine (photo 1). Cover it with a piece of plastic wrap in contact and refrigerate.

To make the puff pastry crust, preheat the oven to 355 degrees F/180 degrees F.

Thaw the frozen butter puff pastry. Using a rolling pin, roll it out on a lightly floured surface or between two parchment paper sheets to ⅕ inches/5 mm thick.

Line a 9-inch/23 cm fluted tart pan, with a removable bottom, with the pastry, pressing it into the bottom and sides of the dish.

Trim the edges of the pastry case with a sharp knife and prick the bottom with a fork (photo 2).

Blind bake the crust for 25 minutes (no need to use ceramic pie weights or dried beans).

Take the pastry out of the oven and lightly press the pastry base to flatten, using a paper towel.

Decrease the oven temperature to 300 degrees F/150 degrees C. With a spoon or a small bent spatula, spread the almond cream (photo 3).

Bake for a further 20 minutes. Remove it from the oven, let it cool completely in the pan (photo 4).

Then transfer the pastry base to a serving platter. 

To make the pastry cream, split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, scrape the seeds with the tip of a knife.

In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and corn starch with a hand whisk (photo 5).

Pour milk into a medium saucepan, add scraped vanilla seeds, and the pot split in half, and bring to a boil.

Remove the vanilla pod, add hot milk while stirring to the egg yolk mixture.

Pour the egg mixture back to the saucepan and cook the cream over low to medium heat, stirring constantly.

Stop cooking when the cream thickens. Remove the pot from the heat, add butter to the thickened mixture, and mix (photo 6).

Transfer the pastry cream to a shallow dish, cover with cling film (aka plastic film) in contact.

It should touch the whole surface of the cream. Let it cool at room temperature.

To assemble the tart, whisk the pastry cream with a hand whisk and spread it on the baked almond cream.

Wash, drain, and hull strawberries. Leave a few of them with green tops for decoration.

Cut strawberries in half lengthwise and arrange them on the layer of pastry cream (photo 7). Refrigerate at least one hour before serving.

To serve Tarte aux fraises, sprinkle the edge of the tart with icing (powdered) sugar.

To highlight strawberry haves, take some, sprinkle them with little icing sugar and place them back on the tart.

Sprinkle the dessert with chopped pistachios (photo 8). 

Recipe variations

Instead of making a large strawberry tart, you can make individual tarts (French strawberry tartlets) using small tart tins.

Decorate them with halves, quarters, or thin slices of fresh strawberries, or use wild strawberries if available.

French chefs mostly use harmonious ways to decorate Tarte aux fraises, but some imperfection takes place and highlights this traditional dessert.

The simplest way to arrange fresh strawberries cut in half is to place them spontaneously in different directions.

It is the same technique used by French chefs Cyril Lignac and Benoît Couvrand to decorate their Tarte aux fraises.

I adapted that technique to arrange sweet strawberries over the tart (the recipe is below).

The neatest way to decorate the tart is to use whole strawberries or slice berries lengthwise in two, four, or more slices and place them in a circular pattern.

Arrange berries cut side up or side down, leaning strawberries up a little as you work along the edge or towards the center.

Start from the outside of the tart, slightly overlapping strawberries.

To be inspired, please, have a look at the fruit topping of strawberry tarts from The Spruce Eats, As Easy as Apple Pie, Del's Cooking Twist, or Taste of the South.

You can also slice strawberries into the thickness and decorate your Tarte au fraise in a spiral pattern, resembling a strawberry “rose” on top of the dessert.

Or place strawberry slices about ⅓ inch/1 cm thick harmoniously on top of the tart to cover the pastry cream.

If you desire, cover berries with neutral glaze or brush them with warm apricot jam.

Sprinkle top of the dessert with chopped pistachios, toasted flaked almonds, and decorate with fresh mint or verbena leaves.

Storage

The finished strawberry tart with pastry cream should be eaten within 24 hours.

But you can keep it in the fridge for up to 48 hours maximum. I do not recommend freezing the assembled strawberry tart.

Expert tips

1. Do not overmix the almond cream; otherwise, it will swell during baking and overflow the tart. Use only a rubber spatula for this step.
2. Watch the color of the almond cream while baking: it has to be lightly brown.
3. Cut fresh strawberries in two or four, depending on the size. Leave some of them with green tops.
4. Arrange strawberries on top of the tart in the way you desire.

Frequently asked questions

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The recipe was originally published on April 07, 2021. It has been revised to include improved content and photos. All posted pictures are mine.