Fresh Strawberry Tart Recipe

Nothing is as delicious as a strawberry tart, sweet pastry meets creme patissiere and fresh berries to create a delicious treat! Impress your friends and family at your next gathering with this strawberry tart recipe – it’s sure to be the centrepiece of your meal!

The Story Behind this Strawberry Tart

This strawberry tart recipe came about when I was trying to find red food to feed my friends at a Red (Taylor’s Version) party. Although the party was in November, and not in the height of summer when most strawberry tarts are served, I thought it was the perfect red dessert. I was determined to make my own pastry for this tart instead of simply buying pre-made from the supermarket. I ended up basing this off two separate recipes, one from Tesco and one from my mum, and made my own tweaks to ensure it was just how I wanted it. This strawberry tart recipe is definitely now my go-to dinner party pudding, and with the fresh taste of the fruit, it’s a fabulous way to end an evening.

Important Things to Take Note of When Making a Strawberry Tart

When making this strawberry tart recipe there are a couple of things to keep in mind to ensure it’s perfect. The most important is the thickness of the creme patissiere. You want this filling to hold its shape, so when cooking the custard part of this recipe, ensure you keep cooking it until it is thick and you think it will hold its shape when served.

The second thing to consider comes to the glaze. If you decide to glaze the tart using apricot jam, I suggest using a smooth jam. The first time I made this I used an apricot jam that had bits of apricot still in it and it did leave little bits of apricot on my tart! This isn’t the end of the world, but it’s down to your personal aesthetic aspirations for this strawberry tart recipe! 

Ingredients

These are the ingredients you’ll need to recreate this delicious strawberry tart recipe.

Pastry:

• 200g of Plain Flour
• 125g of Salted Butter
• 30g of Icing Sugar
• 1 Large Egg Yolk
• A Dash if Water

Creme Patissiere:

3 Medium Egg Yolks

350ml Whole Milk

Vanilla Essence

Vanilla Pod with Seeds Scraped

1.5 Tablespoons of Castor Sugar

1.5 Tablespoons of Cornflour

250g Mascarpone

2 Supermarket Punnets of Strawberries 

Apricot Jam for Glazing

Method

Pastry:

I like to begin with the pastry as this is the base of the strawberry tart and you want it to have cooled properly before adding the creme patisserie. This is a sweet pastry that will be used to line your loose bottom fluted tart tin. 

1. Preheat the oven to 190’c or 170’c for a fan oven.
2. Mix together the flour, icing sugar, butter, and egg yolk to form the pastry dough. I do this with a handheld mixer to begin and then switch to using clean hands to bring the dough together. If the dough is too dry and feels as though it will crumble, add a small amount of water.
3. Roll your pastry dough out on a floured surface to 5mm thickness. For this step I use an adjustable roller to get the perfect thickness. Use this to line your tart tin.
4. Line the pastry in the tin with baking paper and then weigh down with baking beans or rice. Bake like this for 15 minutes. 
5. Remove the beans/rice and baking paper and bake for a further 5 minutes. Once out of the oven, place to the side and leave to cool.

Creme Patissiere:

The creme patissiere is perhaps the most difficult part of this recipe to get right but follow these steps closely and you should end up with a super yummy and creamy filling!

1. Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and cornflour. This should be done in a heatproof bowl.
2. Next put the milk, vanilla pod and seeds, and a dash of vanilla essence in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. 
3. Strain the milk.
4. Pour the milk into the egg mixture whilst whisking constantly. 
5. Place the mixture over a low to medium heat. Keep stirring whilst on the heat until you reach a nice thick custard consistency. 
6. Leave this to cool (this process can be sped up by placing in the fridge).
7. Once cool, mix in the tub of mascarpone.

Assembling the Strawberry Tart:

1. Chop your strawberries in halves.
2. Once the pastry is cool, spoon the creme patissiere in and smooth to create a flat layer.
3. Place your strawberries on top in whatever design you fancy.
4. To create a glaze, heat two tablespoons of jam with two tablespoons of water. Use this to brush over the fruit with a pastry brush.

When to Serve Strawberry Tart

Strawberry tart is the perfect summer dish, ideal for dessert at BBQs, or for late evening dinner parties. This recipe is sure to be enjoyed by all your friends and family as strawberry tart is loved by both adults and children. I’d love to know if you try this recipe for yourself!

About Katie May

I’m a digital marketer with a passion for travel, beauty, and books. On my site, you’ll find travel guides, including things to do in Cardiff and things to do in Los Angeles. You’ll also find beauty content including my thoughts on whether glossier is worth it. I hope you enjoy your time on my blog!