Fresh strawberry tart

Clearing out the fridge can yield so many desserts. I'm frankly amazed at how many stuff I've made in the past month before the move using stuff that I've already had stocked in the pantry on "one of my various groceries trips". And I'm sure I'm not alone in this whole my-pantry-is-already-jammed-packed with this little bag of this and that little can of that and whatnots AND yet when I spot something new, it ends up in where else but my grocery shopping cart.

Fresh strawberry tart

Leftover used for this entry was the previous strawberry tart crust used in the making of a Parisian Triple Strawberry Tart. I had some leftover dough and it rolled out just well enough to fit a roughly 6" tart tin.

Only attempt making the tart when strawberries are in season and they are at their juiciest and sweetest peak of their short lives. Or you'll regret it. Ask me how I know it. :(

I think, I'm actually a custard sorta girl. Yeps. Custard tart that is. I prefer my crisp tart shells to be filled with a rich pastry cream and then topped with the sweetest fruit of the season. I had another extra tart dough to make another tart (no photos! oh wait, I tweeted about it here), which I filled with sweet almond custard and topped with blackberries. I baked both tarts the same day as I had a friend over for dinner that night. And guess what - everyone universally picked the other (custard) tart over this strawberry one. Guess I'm not a lone sucker for custard!

Not to say this tart was bad, but it was just unfortunate that I had chosen a punnet of the un-sweetest strawberries ever and so the taste was of course, compromised. My bad. This teach me a lesson to not buy fruits when they are not in season yet even when I'm craving them. Tsk tsk.

Strawberry tart shell
Recipe here.


Filling (adapted from Nam at The Culinary Chronicles)
1/2 quart strawberries
3/8 cup water
1 tbsp strawberry gelatin
1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 cup sugar (more if berries aren’t sweet enough)

Mix together the sugar, gelatin, and cornstarch. Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Whisk in the dry ingredients and cook until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Hull and wash the strawberries and pat dry. Place the strawberries in a big clean bowl. Pour the cooled glaze over the strawberries and lightly toss to coat.  Transfer the strawberries on the the cooled tart shell. Chill the tart for at least 2 hours before serving.