Strawberries and Cream Tart
Strawberries and Cream Tart ~ a simple spring dessert with an easygoing elegance. This is a go-to recipe when you've got last minute guests.
Servings: 10 servings
Ingredients
crust
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 7 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut in pieces
- 1 large egg, well beaten
filling
- 2 cups heavy cream , or half and half, or whole milk
- 2.5 ounces vanilla instant pudding mix, NOT the cook and serve kind. Half of a 5.1 ounce package (just shy of 1/2 cup)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Put the flour and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the cold butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. About 30 or so pulses. Pulse in the egg until the mixture comes together.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and bring together with your hands. Knead into a smooth flat disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes (or overnight.)
- Preheat the oven to 375F
- Roll out the dough to fit your 9 or 10 inch tart pan and pat in place. (I like to use tart pans that have the removable bottoms, so you can easily pop out the tart for easy cutting and pretty presentation.) Patch any tears with your fingers. Pierce the bottom all over with a fork, and then place a piece of crumpled parchment paper on top. Fill with dried beans, which will prevent the crust from puffing as it bakes. Bake for 15 minutes. Then remove the beans and paper, and bake a further 5-10 minutes, until the pastry is firm and dry to the touch. It will still be pale. Set aside to cool on a rack.
Filling
- To make the filling, put the cream in a mixing bowl, along with the vanilla extract. Whisk in the pudding mix, whisking gently until the mixture thickens. This doesn't take long, maybe about a minute or two. DO NOT be tempted to try to whip this mixture, the pudding mix will thicken it instantly without whipping. When the mixture is thickened, spread it into the cooled crust.
- Top with the berries, and dust with powdered sugar.
Notes
- There are so many ways to change up the filling, including using sweetened whipped cream all by itself. The slices won't be as neat, but who cares? Any custard, pudding, or pastry cream recipe will work, too.
- Add the seeds of a vanilla bean to the filling for a touch of luxury.
- Drizzle the tart with melted chocolate.
- Why not serve this in parfait glasses ~ you can put crushed shortbread cookies or graham cracker crumbs at the bottom of the glass.
Nutrition
Serving: 1 slice · Calories: 345 kcal · Carbohydrates: 25 g · Protein: 4 g · Fat: 26 g · Saturated Fat: 16 g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g · Monounsaturated Fat: 7 g · Trans Fat: 0.3 g · Cholesterol: 93 mg · Sodium: 66 mg · Potassium: 77 mg · Fiber: 1 g · Sugar: 10 g · Vitamin A: 972 IU · Vitamin C: 0.3 mg · Calcium: 40 mg · Iron: 1 mg
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. This information comes from online calculators. Although The View from Great Island attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.
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