Some people might think ” Strawberry tart, easy!”. Make the dough, add some vanilla custard and top it with strawberries. Well, yeah, but it takes a bit more time if you don’t want to use the ready-made vanilla custard nor add almond essence in the butter.
I adapted Conticini’s recipe and combined it with Hermé’s sweet dough – it is covered with an almond butter mixed with a vanilla cream, topped with a coulis (sauce) made from berries and the strawberries resting like a crown, powdered with icing sugar and pistachios.
Prepare the dough, the berries coulis and the almond butter the day before, assemble the cake on the day you want to serve it, it will taste even better.
Serves 6
18cm tin form pan
200g dough
200g almond butter
60g berries coulis
20 strawberries
5 raspberries (optional)
20g fresh pistachios
The dough (sweet dough from Pierre Hermé)
Ingredients (for 4 x 24cm forms)
500g flour type 45
300g soft butter
190g icing sugar
60g almond powder
2 eggs
4 pinches Fleur de Sel
1/2 tbsp vanilla powder or half a vanilla pod
1. Cut the butter in cubes and mix it until soft.
2. In order, add: the icing sugar, almond powder, salt, vanilla, the eggs then flour.
3. Mix until it forms a homogenous dough. If you over work the dough it will lose its crunchiness.
4. Cut the dough into 4 pieces. Roll the dough in cling film and keep it in the fridge for 4 hours.
Vanilla Crème Pâtissière (for 500g)
1/2 a liter milk
45g flour
40g sugar
4 egg yolks (80g)
half a vanilla pod
1. In a pan bring the milk and the vanilla pod cut in half and grated to a boil, take out of the heat as soon as it boils.
2. Let to rest for 15min for the vanilla to infuse.
3. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the sugar until “white” or fluffy.
4. Then add the flour. Mix well to get an homogenous paste.
5. Take out the vanilla pod. Pour half of the milk onto the egg mixture. Mix well then pour it back in the pan with the rest of the milk.
6. On medium heat bring to a boil while continuously whisking until it gets thicker.
7. Once it has thickened place in a baking dish and cover with a cling foil film directly on the cream (so that it doesn’t get a hard crust).
8. Place in the fridge for at least an hour.
The almond butter (For 350g)
80g almond powder
80g butter (taken out of the fridge 2h before use)
70g vanilla crème pâtissière
80g icing sugar
2 Tbsp rum
In a bowl whisk the almond powder with the softened butter. Add the crème patissière once cooled, the icing sugar and the rum. Whisk again to obtain an homogenous cream.
The berries coulis
150g strawberries, a handful of raspberries and blueberries.
3 Tbsp sugar cane syrup.
The juice of a lime.
Mix in electric mixer.
Make the tart
1. On 150c° blind bake the dough 20 min with beans or rice placed on baking paper. Take it out of the oven, take away the paper and beans and bake an extra 15 min.
2. Spread the almond butter cream onto the dough then place in the fridge for 20min. The butter becomes solid and the strawberries won’t sink in.
3. Spread the berries coulis.
4. Cut the strawberries in half and place them on the cake inside side up.
5. Crush the pistachios.
6. Sprinkle the pistachios and icing sugar over the tart. Serve.
This looks so incredibly beautiful! I can almost taste those beautiful berries (and I LOVE pistachios). Thank you for a gorgeous post and for the step-by-step on the tart crust. You may have just inspired me to give this a try (always a little nervous with the tart dough). Lovely, lovely.
Hi Leigh and thank you very much for your support. I gotta say it is very nice to hear from a fellow food blogger! Good work btw.
Do not hesitate to write once you’ve tried a recipe.
Hope to hear from you soon.