Strawberry tart

And so I came across this incomplete post which I started literally a month ago and completely forgot about! I think I should finish finish it this time.. haha

…Because strawberries are one of the only fruits my brother eats, I decided to make something with strawberries for his birthday. It was his birthday just recently (some time ago) and I wanted to make him a cake.. so why not a strawberry tart?

For the tart base, I used Bourke Street Bakery's sweet shortcrust pastry - I made the pastry dough a few days earlier, fridged it, rolled and baked it on the day and luckily it had enough time to cool :) This sweet shortcrust recipe is also the one I used to make the ginger brulee tart and lemon curd tart for the dessert table - I absolutely love love the recipe! 

And for the pastry cream I used Tony Wong's recipe which I got from a cooking show (Hong Kong's Mr Sweet) which he demonstrated a few of his recipes. And yep, the show was in Chinese so I had to translate the recipe to something I would understand. That is, while I watched it I had to press play and pause every two seconds and translate the Chinese to English. However, it was definitely worth the effort! I've tried a couple of his recipes and this one turned out to be one of my favourite! In Tony Wong's demonstration he made the pastry cream and used it to fill profiteroles (I fill my profiteroles with this pastry cream as well) which assemble into a croquembouche!

Without further ado, here are the recipes!

For the sweet shortcrust pastry:

Recipe from Bourke Street Bakery and The Boy Who Bakes

400g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes

20ml vinegar, chilled

100g caster sugar, chilled

170ml water, chilled

665g plain flour

5g salt

Take the butter out of the fridge 20 minutes before you start so it can softened and it'll be easier to work with.

Put the chilled vinegar and sugar in a bowl and mix together, set aside for 10 minutes to allow the sugar to dissolve.

If you are mixing the dough by hand, mix together the flour, butter and salt. Using your fingertips rub the butter into the flour to combine.

If you are using a food processor, put the flour, butter and salt in the food processor and pulse for a couple of seconds or until partly combined.

Place the flour mixture onto a clean, floured work surface and gather together.

Sprinkle over the sugar mixture and use the palm of your hand to smear the mixture away from you across the surface. Gather together again and repeat this process a couple more times until the dough is brought together. You should be able to see streaks of butter marbled through the final dough, which will give it a slightly flaky texture.

Divide the dough in half and shape into two round flat discs. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Remove the dough from the fridge 20 minutes before using them. Roll out the pastry dough on a lightly floured surface to about 3mm thick.

Cut the pastry into circles that are a little bigger than your tart moulds. Place the dough onto the top of the tart tin and use your fingers to gently push the dough into the mould. Allow the excess pastry to hang over the tin as the pastry will shrink while cooking.

Place the lined tart tins in the freezer for 20 minutes before baking.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Line the tarts with a layer of baking paper or aluminium foil and fill with pastry beans or uncooked rice. Bake the tart/tarts for 20-25 minutes or until cooked and golden all over. 

Note let the tart base cool down before filling it with pastry cream.   

For the pastry cream:

Recipe from Tony Wong

125g caster sugar

50g cornflour

500ml milk

120g egg yolk

25g butter

1/2 vanilla bean

100g thickened cream, whipped to stiff peaks

Put half of the sugar and all the cornflour into a mixing bowl. Gently mix together with a whisk and slowly pour in half the milk. Stir to combine. Add the egg yolks and mix well. Set aside.

Place the rest of the milk and the remaining sugar into a saucepan. Scrape the vanilla bean and add the vanilla seeds and bean into the saucepan with milk and sugar. When the mixture boils, take it off the heat.

Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking continuously at the same time to prevent the yolks from scrambling.

When mixed together, pour the mixture back into the saucepan and onto the heat. Stir continuously until the mixture is thickened and cloggy.

Take it off the stove and mix in the butter which will melt from the heat.   

Pour the mixture though a fine sieve to get rid of any lumps and to ensure that the pastry cream will be smooth. Press cling wrap directly onto the surface of the pastry cream which will prevent a skin from forming.

Refrigerate the pastry cream until cold which can take up to 3 hours.

Before using pastry cream, fold the whipped cream into the mixture and mix it to a smooth consistency.   

To assemble the tart:

Spread the pastry cream over the base of the cooled tart shell. Arrange the strawberries over the pastry cream so they slightly overlap. Brush strawberries with strawberry jam or glaze. Set aside until it sets. Place that tart/tarts in the fridge until ready to serve. Enjoy! 

           

Enjoy the rest of the weekend and have a lovely week! 

Eileen