Strawberry Custard Tart

Well, now that strawberries are in season again, you will be seeing a lot of strawberry desserts from me.

I love strawberries and when in season I eat them as and when possible, whether they are in breakfast cereals in the morning in my fruit bowl at night.

This is a very easy dessert to put together for me. I most often have the short crust pastry in the freezer, and making custard is fairly quick too.

Notice the difference in my recipe... When you cut into it - it's not a big custard mess. My custard is thick and holds well when you cut into slices and yet soft and creamy; melts into the mouth when you eat.

 The secret is to make the custard fresh and let it set in the tart.

What you will need:

1. A prebaked short crust pastry - A step by step pictorial on how to do Short Crust Pastry can be found here.. 
2. 2 cups - fresh vanilla Custard - You can choose between Egg Custard/ Pastry Cream or Egg free custard/ Pastry creme. (I have a step by step pictorial on both - just click on the link)
3. 400 grams / 1 box - Fresh Strawberries 
4. 1 tsp gelatine for the glaze (optional)
5. 1 tbsp strawberry jam for the glaze

Method: 

Prebake your pastry crust for about 30 to 40 minutes. Cool completely.

Keep the Custard covered with cling / plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming. Cool to room temperature.

Wash, clean, wipe and hull the strawberries. Sort them into sizes so you can arrange them on your tart accordingly. 

Place your baked crust on a plate so you can move it around easily.
I prefer to keep the crust in the tart pan so I don't accidentally break the crispy shell while working with it..

I prefer to slice my strawberries and place them on the tart. But if you have small tiny strawberries you may want to place them whole. 

Pour the custard in the cool prebaked short crust pastry tart. 

Start arranging the strawberries. 
If you have small strawberries you could start arranging them like so....

I have the regular sized strawberries, plus I like the sliced look so I start from the outside and work my way toward the center.

Here's my first circle done.. 

Here's the whole tart layered.  Magic!

Brush with the glaze:
Option 1 - If you intend to keep the tart int the fridge for more than couple of hours or even a day - use the gelatine glaze. I find the gelatine helps keep the fruit fresh longer when protected by a gelatine layer.
Dilute the gelatine with 2 tbsp water.  Warm in the microwave for 10 to 15 seconds.
Stir in the strawberry jam and brush over the fruit.


Option 2 - If you choose to use the tart within a couple of hours... Just warm the strawberry jam with 1 tbsp of water to make it more liquid. Brush over the fruit.  

Here is my tart all brushed with the gelatine glaze.

Let set in the fridge for an hour or two before you serve.

Bon Appetite..!

Thank you for stopping by, Have a great day...