It’s strawberry season!

We picked a nice little harvest today – enough for a strawberry tarte and some to set aside for jam. This bunch is going to need sweetening since this season’s strawberries are not sweet at all.

The plants are the Gariguette variety, which is supposedly the best in France, so I’ve no idea why.

I’ve made such a hoopla about sorrel fish, but everyone knows desserts are more fun to blog about (and eat). Plus the fishmonger doesn’t come to the market until Friday, and not Tuesday as I had thought. And … if truth be told, I am awfully intimidated by those large snail-eaten sorrel leaves. But I will conquer this fear. I will.

Okay. Back to tart strawberries and strawberry tarte.

Can’t you just picture yourself sitting on a park bench in Paris, swinging your legs and eating strawberry tarte? Never been? Well it is time we bring this délice to you! And if you have been to France, you’ll think you never left.

I think that all the time.

I got the recipe from here but used the crust recipe from my lemon tarte instead. It’s a good gluten free recipe because the almond flour makes it easier to work with.

Here’s everything you need, which you will want to put in the cuisinart:

125 grams or ½ cup of unsalted butter (chopped into pieces), heaping ½ cup of confectioner’s sugar, 2 ½ cups of flour – regular or a gluten-free mix, 1/3 cup almond powder, an egg and a teaspoon of large grain sea salt.

Adding large grain sea salt gives an extra special surprise; every time you bite a salt crystal it contrasts the creamy sweetness of the tarte with its yummy saltiness.  Trust me – it’s good. Don’t overdo it though – about this much: (And if you don’t have large grain, use only 1/2 teaspoon)

Blend the dough, taking care to scrape the insides of the cuisinart at least once, and then add up to 3 Tablespoons of ice cold water, one at a time, and allow the dough to form a mass.

Place two pieces of saran wrap in the shape of a cross and pour the crumbly mass of dough into the center. You can tie it up in a ball and sort of squeeze it together. You’ll need to refrigerate it for an hour so that it firms up.

Meanwhile, let’s make the crème patisserie. The pastry cream.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes a recipe with many steps feels daunting and I just want to take a cold cloth to my forehead. But these two major steps you can do the night before (the crust and the pastry cream).

Or you can make the dough in between the kids’ music lessons and the pastry cream before you teach English, roll out the dough and bake it before you pick the kids up from Centre, then assemble and glaze the tarte while they’re watching cartoons. (I mean – while they’re reading a book). It’s all about multi-tasking, neh?

So. The pastry cream.

Heat 2 1/8 cups of milk with a teaspoon of vanilla.

Then separate 4 eggs, putting the whites aside for the vegetable omlette you’re going to make for your light breakfast after having eaten strawberry tarte all evening.

Add ½ cup of sugar to that

3 Tablespoons and 1 teaspoon of corn starch

and 1/8 teaspoon of salt.

Whisk it together.

When the milk is hot, pour it in all at once and mix the entire thing together.

Put it back on the burner and stir it constantly over low heat for 2-4 minutes until it gets thick.

Then put it in a bowl and cover it with saran wrap to prevent a pudding crust from forming. After it cools a bit, put it in the refrigerator until it’s chilled.

Voila ta crème patisserie, you French chef you!

When you’re ready to roll out the dough, pre-heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). If the dough is too hard, put it in the microwave at 15 second intervals until you can work with it. Place a sheet of wax paper underneath the dough and a second one on top. This makes it easier to roll out and also gives you a smoother finish.

You’ll need a 30 cm quiche pan.

Bake the pie crust for 15 to 20 minutes until it’s light brown, not too dark.

Let it cool for about an hour after it’s baked.

When you’re ready to assemble, spread the pastry cream on the cool crust.

Then wash and slice in half (the long way) about 16 oz of strawberries. Place them on the pastry cream in a tight concentric circle.

Phew! We’re nearing the end here.

You know how french tartes have a sort of glossy shine on the fruit? You can melt gelatin with water to get that effect, but it’s much easier to just heat up 2 heaping spoons of jelly. (Not jam, there musn’t be any pieces of fruit).

I used apple jelly because it was almost clear, but even so I’d almost say that 3-4 heaping spoons would be better than the 2 the recipe called for.  I could see spots where there was jelly and spots where there wasn’t.

Brush it over the strawberries.

And, believe it or not, your French Strawberry Tarte is finished! That’s all there is to it.

Oh! Except for just one thing.

Here my friend, what do you think? Say “Aaah”

* having trouble with the printable version of the recipe – will work on that one.

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