These French Strawberry Tartlets with Custard Filling are the ultimate summer dessert: flaky homemade pastry crust, creamy Pastry Cream and Strawberries!
Place the very soft Butter and Powdered Sugar in the bowl of your mixer and cream together for 2 to 3 minutes, or until pale and fluffy. Add the Egg, Almond Meal and Salt and mix until combined.
Add the Flour and mix it in on the lowest speed. Stop as soon as the dough starts to come together to avoid overworking the pastry.
Transfer the pastry between two sheets of lightly floured Baking Paper. Thinly Roll into the desired thickness (about 2 to 3mm or 1/10 inch), then place in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Line your Pastry Rings (or Tartlet Pans) with the Pastry and prick the bottom with a small fork. Place back in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Turn your oven on 160'C/325'F. While the oven is pre-heating, place your filled pastry rings (or tins) in the freezer on a baking tray.
Blind bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until fully baked (see note 1). Remove from the oven and leave to cool down completely.
Pastry Cream
Heat up the Milk and Vanilla in a small pot on low heat. In a separate bowl, whisk together the Sugar and Egg Yolks. Add the Cornstarch and whisk until smooth.
When the Milk starts to simmer, pour it over the Sugar/Egg/Cornstarch while whisking, then tranfer it all back into the pot (see note 2). Keep whisking on low heat until the cream starts to thicken. Once it reaches a boil, whisk for an additional 30 seconds then remove from the stove.
Transfer into a shallow pan and cover with plastic wrap touching the surface of the cream. Place in the fridge to cool until it reaches room temperature.
Assembling the Strawberry Tartlets
Pour the Pastry Cream (you can also use a piping bag with round nozzle for more precision) into each Tartlet Shell and smooth the top with an offset spatula.
Wash your Strawberries and remove the stem. Slice them into strips and poke them into the Custard to almost completely cover it (see note 3).
Keep inthe fridge for up to 2 days.
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Notes
Disclaimer: for the the best results, I highly recommend the metric measurements (grams/ml) over the cup/tbsp ones.For more information, step by step instruction, tips and troubleshooting on the pastry and the cream, ready my Pate Sucree Recipeand Vanilla Pastry Cream Recipe.For this recipe, I used 10cm / 4 inch wide Perforated Pastry RingsNotes:
I did not use weights or baking beads here - if the pastry has rested and chilled enough, it should not move or shrink when baked. If you are scared it might shrink, you can always add a little bit of baking paper over the lined pastry shells and add beads or weights. Remove the about half-way through the baking so that the bottom is fully baked too.
This is to temper all the ingredients and insure the eggs don't cook too fast in the pot and burn/curdle. Always work with low temperature for Pastry Cream - it will take longer to thicken but it is the best way to insure you don't get lumps or burn part of the cream.
There are many other ways to decorate/finish the tartlets so it is really up to you! I like the 'unorganised, messy' look but you can also go for a more simple, arranged finish.