Recipe for Strawberry Tart

Start by making the dough. Take the butter out of the refrigerator a little in advance and let it soften on the counter. When it is soft, put it in a large bowl with the sifted powdered sugar and mix well with a wooden spoon: you should get a smooth dough. Add the almond flour and salt, mix well. Incorporate the egg, then the flour, and mix again, but not too long.

Place the dough in the refrigerator and let it rest for about 1 hour. Then, place it on a sheet of paper and, using a rolling pin, roll it out to 2 mm thick. Place this disk of dough in a baking ring that is 16 cm in diameter and refrigerate the whole thing. Let it firm up for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 170°C. When it reaches the right temperature, place the ring containing the dough on the baking tray (be careful not to burn yourself) and bake the pastry base for about 15 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the almond cream. Take the butter out of the refrigerator and let it soften at room temperature. When it is soft, put it in a large bowl with the powdered sugar and cornstarch, and mix well with a wooden spoon. Add the egg and then the almond flour. Mix again.

Once the almond cream is ready, fill the tart shell with it. Add the fresh strawberries, which will flavor the cream, and let it bake for another 12 minutes at 170°C.

For the pastry cream, heat the milk in a small saucepan, add the half vanilla bean, turn off the heat and let it steep for 10 minutes. Place the egg yolk in a bowl with the powdered sugar. Whisk until the mixture lightens in color, then add the cornstarch and flour.

Remove the half vanilla bean and bring the flavored milk to a boil. Pour it over the previous mixture, mix well with a wooden spatula, and return everything to the saucepan. Cook until it reaches a boil. Off the heat, add the butter cut into slices, and mix well with the spatula. Let it cool after covering the cream with plastic wrap.

Once the tart base has cooled, fill it with pastry cream, then arrange the strawberries nicely on top. If you have any pastry cream left, you can optionally pour it into a piping bag and place small drops between each strawberry.

To finish "The Pastry of Yann Couvreur for Children, the Sequel" by Yann Couvreur. Published by Solar on April 27, 2023.