French Food Friday - tartes aux fraises

 

Bonjour mes belles,

I have been wanting to try out this recipe for a while now and this week I finally got the time to try it out.

The secret is the pastry, this recipe is by  Pierre Herme and it is divine. Needless to say French Boyfriend did not want to share these with anyone and was not pleased to find out I ate the one he was saving for after dinner.

To save time, prepare your tart shells in advance. It is best to prepare the pastry cream the same day it is used. If you don't have or don't like strawberries, feel free to use other fruits: raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, mangoes, etc.

Author: Malika A. Black

Quantity: 8

Ingredients

For 8 tartlets with strawberries and pastry cream:

Sweet shortbread pastry from Pierre Hermé:

250 g | 2 cups of flour

150 g | ⅔ cup butter at room temperature

95 g | ¾ cup of icing sugar

30 g | ⅓ cup of ground almonds

1 egg

2 pinches of fleur de sel

A few drops of liquid vanilla extract

For the tart shells:

1 egg white (not in the dough, but to spread on the tart shells halfway through cooking so that they do not become soggy when filled)

Custard :

½ liter | 500 ml | 2 cups of milk

4 to 5 egg yolks depending on the size

1 vanilla bean or a teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 pinch of fleur de sel (me fine salt)

80 g | ⅓ cup and 1 good tablespoon of granulated sugar

40 g | ⅓ cup of flour

30 g | ¼ cup of cornstarch (cornstarch)

1 knob of butter to dab the surface of the cream to prevent the formation of a crust when cooling

Garnish :

About 4 strawberries per tart

A little apricot jam without pieces for the topping  - this is to have a shiny effect on the strawberries

Preparation

Prepare the sweet shortbread pastry from Pierre Hermé:

In the bowl of your KitchenAid or Kenwood type robot, mix the softened butter, using the flat mixer.

Add the powdered sugar while continuing to beat, the salt and the ground almonds.

Stir in the egg.

Pour in the flour and mix everything well.

Roll your dough into a ball. Film and set aside in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Prepare the tart shells:

Remember to take your dough out of the fridge 15 minutes before making your tart shells.

On a work surface, roll out your dough into a disc about 3 mm thick. Don't hesitate to sprinkle a little more flour if it sticks too much. The best is to put your dough between two baking paper before rolling, it's much easier and no need to flour.

Cut circles and darken your tart molds, taking care to remove the excess dough.

Tip so that the edges of your pie bases do not sag during baking:

Place put your tart shells in the refrigeratorfor at least 30 minutes  before cooking them. This will prevent the edges of the tart shells from shrinking during baking. It works very well!

Baking the tart shells:

Preheat your oven to 180 ° C | 350 ° F. Prick the tart shells with a fork or the tip of a knife.

Bake for 7 minutes.

Take them out of the oven, and using a brush, brush the funds with egg white using a pastry brush. This will make them waterproof and prevent them from getting soggy with the trim). It will also keep them crispy.

Then return the tart shells to the oven for another 8 to 10 minutes depending on your oven (when they are lightly browned, they are ready).

Remove them from the oven and let them cool before unmolding.

Prepare the pastry cream:

Pour the milk into a saucepan and heat it.

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until the mixture turns white.

Gradually add the flour and cornstarch sifted together while whisking. It is necessary to obtain a homogeneous mixture.

Mix in  half the milk. Nmce this ismixed in,  add the remaining milk, while mixing constantly with a whisk, and avoiding foaming.

Pour the resulting mixture into the saucepan that you used to heat the milk. Gently bring to the boil, stirring constantly with a whisk. It is very important to stir continuously and in all corners of the pot.

Remove from the heat, put in a stainless steel bowl or tub. Dab the surface of the pastry cream with a knob of butter to prevent a crust from forming as it cools. Film and refrigerate until ready to use. A solid and fine cream is obtained thanks to the flour and cornflour.

Assembling the tarts:

Put the pastry cream in a piping bag (or a freezer bag with a corner cut off), and fill the tart shells (you can also do this with a spoon).

Hull the strawberries and rinse them quickly under cold water. Dry them by dabbing them with absorbent paper.

Keep 8 whole strawberry for the centre of the tarts and cut the rest in half.

Place a whole strawberry in the center on the pastry cream, and the other halves all around the edged.

Dilute the apricot jam or apricot with a little water and brush your tarts with a kitchen brush. This will give you a shiny surface.

You can keep  your tarts for a few hours in the fridge before eating them.

Consume these tarts within 24 hours. 

Bonne dégustation! Leeann x