Farm Fresh Strawberry Tarts, of buttery rich pastry, cream or coconut milk custard and lots of fresh strawberries, are a delicious way to welcome spring!
Farm Fresh Strawberries – The Gift Of Spring
When the earth has been frozen and asleep for winter, strawberry season seems the first fruit to announce that the lazy days of summer are to come.
I live just outside the nation’s capital, tucked inside farm and horse country, between city life and coastal living.
Just up the road from me is my favorite strawberry patch. During the long sleepy months of winter, these strawberry patches are covered and left to rest.
Farm Life
When the black tarps, winter’s blankets, are removed from the strawberry plants, of nearby farms, I know spring is soon on its way.
After a sunny month of growing, locals look forward to filling their baskets with as many strawberries as they are able to pick.
Consequently, a multitude of recipes created for this ruby red fresh fruit, will follow.
Dare I say, I have indulged in many a recipe creation inspired by these luscious fruits of spring.
What Is Needed For A Farm To Table Fruit Tart?
Basically, we need fresh fruits, fruits we can often shop for all year in order to adorn a lovely tart recipe.
However, there is a wholesomeness many of us glean from taking a drive out to a local farmer’s market, or ‘pick your own’ nearby farm, and gather our own.
Besides the freshness of the fruit, it reminds us of the laborious life a farmer endures in order to provide such delicacies to our table.
While a fresh strawberry tart is what I’m after in spring, when autumn rolls around and strawberries are finished for the year, figs are the fruit that will wrap up summer, and so I began to grow my own. But that is a fruit story for another time.
A Strawberry Tart First Needs A Tart Crust
Sometimes a puff pastry, in a pinch, can be used but a basic butter and flour pie dough, or a nut pastry, formed into a tart crust, are my personal preference.
Once a pastry has been decided on, a luscious creamy custard is going inside of the pastry.
The custard can be baked inside of the crust, or a cooked custard that is later added to a crust you might choose to blind bake.
I prefer to bake the custard right inside of the crust; I find it easier.
Blind baking requires weights placed in the crust while it bakes, an extra step I’m usually not interested in, especially when the strawberries are going to steal the show anyway!
What Is A Tart Pan?
Tart pans are a metal baking pan with shallow sides and often a removable bottom, making them easy to remove once baked.
While there are many tart pans available, I prefer Mason jar lids as a mini-tart pan for a variety of reasons:
- Inexpensive and varied in size
- Designed for high heat and reusable
- Removable bottoms make for easy individual servings
Strawberry Tart Custards
Since there are several types of custards that can be used for easy strawberry tarts, we have choices:
- Quick and easy sweetened condensed milk with eggs
- Cream cheese, cheesecake type custards
- Orange Blossom custards, which enhance the strawberry flavor
- Lemon Curd custard, made with mascarpone cheese to bring a little tartness to the strawberry
I have chosen a coconut cream, egg custard, because it is fast and easy, and there are less worries about dairy when serving at a gathering.
How To Make Farm Fresh Strawberry Tarts
Besides the pastry, which I prefer to toss into a food processor to form the dough quickly, the rest is as easy as shaping a cookie dough.
Easily whisked by hand, is the custard that gets poured into the pastry lined tart pans, and baked.
Once the tarts are cool, the sweet strawberries are sliced to lay on top with a strawberry glaze brushed over the top.
Ingredients Needed
- Butter
- Flour
- Sugar
- Salt
- Eggs
- Whole milk Cream or Coconut milk
- Vanilla Extract or a liquor of your choice
- Strawberries
- Strawberry jam
- Confectioner’s sugar or shredded coconut
Equipment Needed
- Food processor or hand mixer
- Rolling pin
- Mason Jar Lids or small tart pans
- Cookie or biscuit cutter to size the dough for tart pans
- Cutting board
- Chopping knife
- Baking sheet pan
- Basting brush
- Oven
More Fresh Strawberry Treats To Love
Once springtime arrives, the local farmer markets reopen their stands to bring to us, their labor of love fruits and vegetables.
It’s easy to create dozens of recipes around these ruby red strawberry gems that are the first fruits to peel back winter and remind us of the delicious months ahead.
Here are just a few of the strawberry recipes I look forward to each spring and throughout the summer months.
- Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri Mocktail – With or without rum this Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri Mocktail with lime, is the most refreshing icy drink you will sip, all summer long!
- Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles – Let’s Make Easy Healthy Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles with fresh strawberries in homemade lemonade because isn’t THIS Summertime!
- Fresh Strawberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing – Fresh Strawberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing, with sweet strawberries, sour balsamic vinegar, olive oil and a bit of red chili flakes for a great dressing.
- Can’t forget Farm Fresh Strawberry Shortcake – Strawberry Shortcake, quick baked shortcakes, layered with whipped strawberry cream and fresh strawberries to welcome spring.
- The Favorite Whimsical Button Cups with Almond Butter and Strawberry Jam I presented on The Great American Recipe with PBS in which the judges commented that ‘these look like they came from The French Laundry‘ the best compliment I could have received!
Farm Fresh Strawberry Tarts
Equipment
- 12 Mason jar lids or tart tins
- Rolling Pin
- Baking sheet pan
- Mixing bowl and whisk
Ingredients
- Crust
- 8 oz Butter cold, unsalted
- 1 3/4 cup All purpose flour more for dusting
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 Egg fork whipped
- 1-2 tbsp Cold water as needed
- Custard
- 2 cups Whole milk, heavy cream or full fat coconut milk
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 3 Eggs room temperature
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Extract or liquor
- Topping
- 2 dozen Whole Strawberries about 1 1/2 strawberry per tart
- 1/2 cup Strawberry jam
- 1 tbsp Rum or liquor
- 2 tbsp Powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to medium heat of 350
- Crust – To prepare the tart shell place the butter and dry ingredients into a food processor, blender or with an electric mixer and give it a whirl to combine the ingredients. Slowly whisk in the egg and water until the pastry comes together into a ball. The right amount of texture can be obtained by adding a sprinkle more of either flour or water, until a soft ball forms.
- On a floured surface, with a rolling pin, roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness. Shape and fit the crust into the tart pans.
- For a creamy filling, whisk the cream (of choice), sugar, eggs, salt and extract in a medium bowl until creamy and light. Pour evenly into prepared tart shells, about halfway up the sides. Transfer tart pans to a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Bake about 20 – 25 minutes until pastry is golden brown and the custard is firm. Cool on a wire rack.
- Topping – Slice the strawberries very thin and place across the tops of each baked tart, keeping the shape of the strawberry. Mix strawberry jam and rum together and brush a little across the tops of the strawberries. A dusting of powdered sugar can be added just before serving.
Video
Notes
- While a glaze is traditionally brushed on top of the strawberry tarts, a beautiful fresh, plump ‘sweet’ strawberry needs nothing on top because it is already beautiful and sweet enough to serve just like that!
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.