Tarte aux fraises is a classic French strawberry tart with silky vanilla crème pâtissière filling and a sweet shortcrust pastry tart shell. It's a perfect way to enjoy the fresh, juicy strawberries in season and a great dessert for dinner parties and gatherings.
Any recipe containing pastry cream is always a big hit with my family. No kidding. Whether it's crispy choux, cream-filled doughnuts or cakes, they will love it as long as there's vanilla pastry cream.
With summer's beautiful fresh strawberries, I couldn't imagine making anything other than this traditional French Strawberry tart. Buttery, crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth crust, creamy vanilla filling and fresh strawberries are a match made in heaven.
It's an incredibly simple, yet delicious dessert that will wow all your friends and family, guaranteed!
You can always play with the flavors to add your twist by topping it with different fruits such as berries, peaches or cherries or adding some lemon or orange zest to the pastry cream. Make it yours!
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Why you'll love this recipe
- Metric measurements. A kitchen scale is your best friend and measuring the ingredients by weight is a great start to a successful recipe recreation.
- Step-by-step images. A little bit of visual aid goes a long way and here you have everything you need to help you make a perfect tarte aux fraises. It's easier than it looks, promise!
- Can be made in advance. You can make both the tart shell and creme patissiere in advance and then assemble right before serving. Neat, isn't it?
Ingredient notes
- Butter: Use good quality, European-style butter with min. 82% fat. Please avoid using margarine and other plant-fat products for the best result both in the pastry and the filling.
- Milk: I always use full-fat milk, don't go below 2.8% fat.
- Flour: I use all-purpose flour that has around 9,5% protein.
- Cornstarch: a thickening agent for pastry cream filling.
- Eggs: I use large eggs that weigh approx. 55-60 g without the shell. You'll need them to thicken the pastry cream and provide structure to the dough.
- Vanilla: use real vanilla, either an extract, paste or vanilla pod. Avoid vanilla essences and other artificial flavorings.
- Sugar: for the crust, it's best to use powdered sugar. For the filling, use granulated or caster sugar.
How to make tarte aux fraises (step-by-step)
Note: You have the fully written recipe with measurements and detailed instructions at the end of the post. However, I advise you to read all the helpful tips and FAQs.
Make the sweet shortcrust pastry
I have a detailed, step-by-step guide on how to make pâte sablée, so check it out for any tips and tricks you might need, especially if you've never made a pie/tart dough. Here I'll share the basic instructions you need to make the crust.
- Start by sifting the flour, powdered sugar and salt into a large bowl and stir it to combine. Add the cold cubes of butter and rub the mixture between your fingers until it looks like coarse sand. Add the egg with some lemon zest and combine everything using a fork, until it forms clumps of dough.
- Knead it gently with your hand until it comes together into a smooth dough. Cover in plastic wrap making a disc of dough and put in the fridge to chill.
- Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to a 2-3mm thickness and place it in a tart pan that you've lightly greased.
- Using your knuckles press the dough so it fits the pan seamlessly. Remove the excess dough with a rolling pin or a knife.
- Place the dough in the fridge or a freezer for at least an hour before blind-baking.
- When ready to bake, poke the dough with a fork, cover with parchment paper and add some weight like beans, rice, barley etc. that will prevent shrinking.
- Bake in a preheated oven for approx. 15 min or until the edges are lightly golden. Remove the parchment paper with the weights and return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes or until completely baked and deep golden brown.
- Leave on a cooling rack to cool completely before adding any filling.
Keep the dough cold. The correct temperature of the ingredients and your working space is important to achieve the right texture and it makes it easier to handle the dough.
Make the crème pâtissière
- Whisk the egg yolks, egg, sugar, corn starch and salt in a medium-sized bowl.
- Meanwhile, let the milk come almost to a boil and then, in a slow and steady stream, whisking constantly, add about ⅔ of the hot milk to the egg mixture.
- Once you tempered the egg mixture, return it back to the saucepan with the remaining milk and continue cooking, whisking constantly, until it thickens and then proceed cooking for another minute or two to make sure the cornstarch-y flavor is gone.
- Turn the heat off, add the butter and vanilla and whisk until everything is incorporated, smooth and shiny.
Assemble the strawberry tart
- Pour the pastry cream to a completely cool tart shell and cover with plastic wrap touching the surface (to prevent skin forming). Leave to cool at room temperature for an hour before placing in the fridge to cool completely.
- If you want to serve the tart the next day, then pour the pastry cream in a shallow plate instead of a crust, cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge. Assemble the tart when ready to serve.
- In the meantime, wash the strawberries in cold water and cut the stem tops.
- Depending on their size, cut the strawberries in half or thirds and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, stir it gently with a spoon and leave for 10-15 minutes to macerate.
- After the tart had time to chill, take it out of the fridge and remove the plastic wrap. If desired, use a hot spoon to make some swirls. Cover the top with macerated strawberries.
Alternatively, you can arrange the freshly cut strawberries in a pretty circular pattern and brush them with warm apricot jam, as it's traditionally done in France.
Yield and serving
This recipe serves 8 to 10 people, depending on how thick or thin you cut the slices.
For added freshness, you can serve some freshly whipped cream with each slice. It's delicious!
💡Tips and tricks
- Feel free to use a food processor to make the dough, instead of rubbing the mixture between your fingers, especially if your hands tend to be hot or you live in a very hot area. However, I suggest using a 'pulse' option for better control of mixing stages.
- Strain the pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve. Lumps or small cooked egg bits are possible if you're not experienced at tempering the eggs and cooking pastry cream. Nothing to worry about! Just make sure to strain the pastry cream through a sieve and you'll have a silky cream in no time!
- You can make both the pate sablee and creme patissiere in advance. Keep the tart shell at room temperature, tightly covered and the pastry cream in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap. However, you'll notice the pastry cream becomes very stiff and gelatinous-like when cold. I like to transfer it to a mixing bowl and whip it with an electric mixer to make it creamy again before assembling.
Storing
Keep your Tarte aux Fraises in the fridge, tightly covered with plastic wrap or in an air-tight container, for 3-4 days. The longer it sits in the fridge the chances are the crust will become soggy.
FAQs and Troubleshooting
It's possible that your milk was too hot when trying to temper the eggs and you didn't whisk as much as you should, so you ended up with some cooked egg bits. No worries, just strain the pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve and you'll be good.
It's most likely that you haven't added the correct amount of cornstarch, or you didn't cook it enough. Next time make sure to cook it all the way through and use a kitchen scale.
Yes, you can freeze the crust before baking and just pop them in the oven when you need a freshly baked tart. You can also freeze the baked tart shell, but it may lose some of its crispiness once thawed. In both cases, make sure to wrap it in plastic wrap tightly before freezing.
If you have any other questions that I didn't cover, please let me know in the comments section down below - I'd love to help you out!
And if you make this delicious Tarte aux Fraises, tag me on Instagram @anasbakingchronicles so I can see it or feel free to e-mail me your pictures and thoughts! I love seeing your bakes!
Happy baking,
Ana
📖 Recipe
Tarte aux fraises (French strawberry tart)
Description
ingredients
pate sablee
- 250 g all-purpose flour
- 140 g unsalted butter (cold)
- 100 g powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 large egg
- lemon zest
creme patissiere
- 500 g whole milk
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 large egg
- 120 g granulated sugar
- 40 g cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 30 g unsalted butter
- ½ teaspoon vanilla paste
Assembly
- 500 g fresh strawberries
- 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
Instructions
To make the pastry:
- Start by dicing the butter. Put it in a bowl and place in the fridge or a freezer to be completely cold before using. Sift the flour, powdered sugar and salt into a large bowl. Stir it with a whisk to combine. Add the cold butter cubes, cover them with flour and start rubbing the butter and flour between your fingers. You're done after the mixture starts looking crumbly, like sand, after approx. 2 minutes. Some bigger bits are completely fine.
- Add the egg and lemon zest to the mixture. Using a fork, cut through the mixture to combine all the ingredients to form dough clumps. Use the palm of your hand to gently knead it until it comes together into a smooth, sticky dough. Don't over do it.Place the dough on a piece of plastic wrap and wrap it to form a disc. Place in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to rest and chill.
- Take the dough from the fridge and place it between two sheets of parchment paper. If it's too cold, let it rest at room temperature until it becomes soft enough to roll without breaking, but not too soft.Roll the dough into a circle 2-3mm thick. You will notice that the more you roll it, the softer the dough becomes, which happens rather quickly. After you've rolled it, place it in the fridge again for 20-30 minutes to firm up.
- In the meantime, grease the tart pan with a little bit of butter. Remove the top parchment paper and turn the dough upside down in the tart pan. Gently remove the other parchment paper from the dough and use your knuckles to press the dough, gently, to fit into every corner of the tart pan. Remove any excess dough by going with a rolling pin on the edges, or you can use a knife.Once again, place the dough in the fridge or in the freezer, this time for at least an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 160˚C (325˚F) if you're using a fan oven or 175˚C (350˚F) if you're not using a fan oven.
- After the dough has chilled, remove it from the fridge and poke with a fork. Cover it with parchment paper and put some weight in the tart case. I used barley, but you can use rice, beans, or specialty baking beans.Blind bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden. Remove the pan from the oven and remove the parchment paper with the weights. Return the pan to the oven and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes or until it's baked through completely and has a deep golden brown color.
- Once it's done, remove it from the oven and put it on a cooling rack to cool completely before adding any filling.
To make the crème pâtissière:
- In a medium sized saucepan, heat the milk just until boiling point. In the meantime, in a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks, egg, cornstarch, sugar and salt using a whisk.
- Once the milk has reached scalding point, pour ⅔ of it to the egg mixture, in a slow and steady stream, whisking continuously so you don't cook the eggs.Once you tempered the egg mixture, return it to the saucepan with the remaining milk and continue cooking, whisking constantly, until it thickens. Cook for another 1-2 minutes to make sure there isn't any cornstarch aftertaste.
- When it's done, add in the vanilla and butter and whisk until everything is combined, silky and smooth.
To assemble:
- Strain the pastry cream through a sieve into a cold, baked tart shell. Cover with plastic wrap touching the surface to prevent skin forming. Leave at room temperature for about an hour to cool, then transfer to a fridge to cool completely.
- Pour the pastry cream to a completely cool tart shell and cover with plastic wrap touching the surface (to prevent skin forming). Leave to cool at room temperature for an hour before placing in the fridge to cool completely.
- If you want to serve the tart the next day, then pour the pastry cream in a shallow plate instead of a crust, cover with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge. Assemble the tart when ready to serve
- .In the meantime, wash the strawberries in cold water and cut the stem tops. Depending on their size, cut the strawberries in half or thirds and place them in a bowl. Sprinkle with two tablespoons of granulated sugar, stir it gently with a spoon and leave for 10-15 minutes to macerate. After the tart has time to chill, remove it from the fridge and remove the plastic wrap. If desired, use a hot spoon to make some swirls. Cover the top with macerated strawberries.
Notes
- Please read all the helpful tips and tricks in the post!
IMPORTANT
All the recipes are developed and tested using only metric measurements and a kitchen scale. The U.S. cup and spoon measurements are provided for your convenience, but I highly recommend getting a digital kitchen scale and measuring in metrics. It's easy and always guarantee the same results in baking!
The nutritional information and US conversions are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee the accuracy of this data. If this is important to you, please verify with your favourite nutrition calculator and/or unit conversion tool.
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