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Tarte aux Fraises (French Strawberry Tart)

French strawberry tart decorated with fresh strawberries and sprinkled with icing sugar and chopped pistachios.
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5 from 11 reviews

This French strawberry tart, or tarte aux fraises, is a classic French dessert made with a crisp puff pastry base, almond cream (crème d’amande), and vanilla pastry cream (crème pâtissière), topped with fresh strawberries and a shiny glaze. It is an easy, make-ahead French fruit tart that serves 8.

Ingredients

Scale

1 sheet puff pastry

For the almond cream:

  • 3 1/2 tablespoons (50 g) salted butter, softened
  • 4 tablespoons (50 g) brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup + 1 teaspoon (50 g) almond flour
  • 1 large egg

For the pastry cream:

  • 2/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (175 g) whole milk
  • 8 1/2 teaspoons (40 g) granulated white sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon (15 g) corn starch
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 1 tablespoon (15 g) unsalted butter

For decoration:

  • 17.5 oz. (500 g) fresh strawberries
  • 1 tablespoon icing (powdered) sugar
  • 0.35 oz. (10 g) raw pistachios (see note #1)

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Instructions

  1. To make the almond cream, mix softened butter, ground almonds, and sugar with a rubber spatula. Add the egg and gently mix just to combine. Cover it with plastic film in contact and refrigerate.
  2. To make the puff pastry crust, preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Thaw the frozen butter puff pastry and, using a rolling pin, roll it out between two parchment paper sheets to 1/5 inch (5 mm) thick. Line a 9-inch (23 cm) fluted tart pan with a removable base with the pastry, pressing it into the bottom and sides of the dish. Trim the edge with a sharp knife and prick the bottom with a fork. Bake for 25 minutes. 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°F (150°C). With a spoon or a small bent spatula, spread the almond cream. Bake for a further 20 minutes. Remove it from the oven, let it cool completely in the pan, then transfer the pastry base to a serving platter.
  3. To make the pastry cream, split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, and scrape the seeds with the tip of a knife. In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch with a hand whisk. Pour milk into a medium saucepan, add scraped vanilla seeds, split the pod in half, and bring to a boil. Remove the vanilla pod, and add hot milk while stirring to the egg yolk mixture. Pour the mixture back into 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, and mix. Transfer the pastry cream to a shallow dish, and cover it with plastic in contact (it should touch the whole surface of the cream). Let it cool at room temperature.
  4. To assemble the tart, whisk the pastry cream with a hand whisk and spread it on top of 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 over the tart. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving.
  5. To serve tarte aux fraises, sprinkle the edge of the tart with icing (powdered) sugar. To highlight strawberry halves, take some, sprinkle them with icing sugar, and place them back on the tart. Sprinkle the dessert with chopped pistachios. 

Notes

  1. 10 g of pistachios equal about 18 raw pistachios.
  2. Do not overmix the almond cream; otherwise, it will swell during baking and overflow the tart. Use only a rubber spatula for this step.
  3. Watch the color of the almond cream while baking: it has to be lightly brown.
  4. Cut fresh strawberries in two or four, depending on the size. Leave some of them with green tops.
  5. Arrange strawberries on top of the tart in the way you desire.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://www.bakinglikeachef.com/tarte-aux-fraises-french-strawberry-tart-recipe/