Farm Fresh Strawberry Tarts (with video)

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 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 are removed from the strawberry plants, of nearby farms, I know spring is soon on its way. 

Afterwards, 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. 

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 what I’m after, 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 best. 

Inside of the pastry is a creamy custard. The custard can be baked inside of the crust, or a cooked custard that is later added to a crust you would blind bake. 

I prefer to bake the custard right inside of the crust; I find it easier. 

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 is easy whisked together, rolled and cut to press into the tart pans, the rest goes very quickly.

Easily whisked by hand, is the custard, that is poured into the pastry lined tart pans, and baked. 

Once the tarts are cool, the sweet strawberries are sliced to lay on top and a strawberry glaze is brushed over the strawberries. 

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

FARM FRESH STRAWBERRY TARTS

Recipe by rdaumitCourse: PiesCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

10

servings

Farm fresh strawberries with a dairy or coconut milk custard for the first bites of spring’s strawberry tarts.

Ingredients

• Pastry

• Butter – 1 stick (8 oz.) cold unsalted butter

• All purpose flour – 1 3/4 cup, plus more for rolling surface

• Sugar – 2 tablespoons

• Salt – 1/2 teaspoon

• Egg – 1, fork whipped

• 12 Mason jar lids or 1 large tart ring

• Custard

• Whole milk, heavy cream or full fat coconut milk – 2 cups

• Sugar – 1/2 cup

• Eggs – 3, room temperature

• Salt – 1/4 teaspoon

• Extract or liquor – 1/2 teaspoon

• Whole Strawberries – 1 1/2 large strawberries per individual tart tin. About 18 if using mason jar lids, about 2 dozen if using a large tart pan.

• Glaze – 1/2 cup (optional) – 1/2 cup strawberry jam, 1 tablespoon rum, 1 tablespoon water, whisked into a glaze to brush across the strawberries

• Confectioner’s sugar – 2 tablespoons (optional) to dust across the strawberries

Directions

• Preheat oven to medium heat of 350
• Pastry
• 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 or 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. Shape and fit the crust into the tart pans. 
• Custard
• 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. 
• Bake about 20 – 30 minutes until pastry is golden brown and custard is firm. Cool on a wire rack.
• Finish by slicing the strawberries very thin and place in the center of each pastry, keeping the shape of the strawberry. Fan the thin slices across the top of the cooled custard. Brush a little strawberry jam glaze across the tops of the strawberries. An added dusting of confectioner’s sugar can be added just before serving. 
  

Recipe Video

Notes

• While a glaze is traditionally brushed on top of the strawberry tarts, a beautiful fresh, plump strawberry needs nothing on top because it is already beautiful and sweet enough to serve just like that!

• Author
• Recent Posts

rdaumit

I am all about the gratification of the senses, and so I have become passionate about capturing the stimuli for my senses through videography and photography. Food provides some of the most alluring subject matter to capture on film, and videography does what a still shot can not do: capture sound. When you hear something sizzling, or pouring, your taste buds and sense of smell are already engaged.

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.

Latest posts by rdaumit (see all)

• Classic Homemade Compound Herb Butter (with video) -
• 52 Creative Muffins In The Best Muffin Cookbook (with video) -
• Mediterranean Venison Wellington Recipe (with video) -