French Pastry Recipe
This french pastry recipe is for a strawberry tart, but it could be adapted for any kind of fruit tart, like blueberries, raspberries or peaches.
If you are in a hurry, you can buy ready made pastry…but it won’t taste nearly as good as the home-made version!
French Pastry Recipe: Tarte aux Fraises (Strawberry Tart Recipe)
Serves 8
For the pastry:
2 cups flour
4.5 oz butter, softened and cut into small pieces
a little extra for buttering the baking dish
2oz caster sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tbspn water
1/4 tspn salt
For the filling:
32oz strawberries
1/2 cup red currant jelly, melted
Crème patissière:
2 cups full fat milk
2 eggs
1/3 cup flour
3 oz sugar
1 tbspn vanilla extract
Firstly, start by making the pastry: combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and mix until the consistency of breadcrumbs. Then add water, and mix until it forms a ball.
Put the pastry ball on to a floured surface and knead for about 30 seconds (making sure there aren’t any lumps left from the butter).
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Grease a springform tart tin (9/10 inch is good, should serve 6-8 people). Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and place into the tart tin. Place in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
Then take out of the freezer and line the pastry tin with baking/parchment paper and beans to weigh it down, and bake for 15-20 minutes. Remove the paper and beans, reduce the heat to 150C and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Next, make the pastry ‘cream’ (crème patissière):
Heat milk in a saucepan until hot. Beat eggs, sugar, vanilla and flour in a bowl, and gradually stir in the milk. Then pour back into the saucepan and heat through until the mixture thickens. Leave to cool.
Finally, (almost there!) melt red currant jelly in a small saucepan on medium heat. Turn down heat to low and keep warm.
Pour pastry cream into the pastry shell, add the strawberries, and glaze the top of the strawberries with the redcurrant jelly.
Pop into the fridge for about an hour to set.
Tip: try and wait to put the filling in until the day you plan to eat it. Otherwise it could get a bit soggy and doesn’t keep very well.
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