Strawberry Cream tart with Vanilla Custard

This Strawberry Cream tart with Vanilla Custard is the creamiest, most amazing tartlet to make when strawberries in season. The Strawberry Cream tart consist of a Pâte Sablée shortcrust pastry filled with silky vanilla custard (pastry cream), topped with a super easy whipped cream and strawberries. Beautiful contrast of melt in your mouth shortbread, refreshing strawberries and creamy and sweet custard.

This Strawberry Cream tart with Vanilla Custard is actually way easier to make than it might look! Once the Pâte Sablée tart shells are baked, it is super quick to fill it with it and decorate! Let´s get started!

What is a tart?

A tart or tartlet is a freestanding, shallow open-faced pastry often baked in a tart ring with fluted or straight sides. Smaller tarts are referred to as tartlets. Lemon tart, fruit tart, chocolate tart, coffee tart, caramel tart…you name it! Tarts and tartlets are one of the most popular pastries all around the world!

Making Pâte Sablée, sweet shortcrust tart shell is one of the baking basics worth mastering for every home baker! An useful and beautiful baking skill that can turn any desserts into professional looking pastries that will impress everyone!

Make sure you check out my Ultimate Pâte Sablée Guide that explains everything about how to make sweet shortcrust including ingredients, technique, equipment and even more.

My Top 5 Baking Tips for home bakers

1. Read the recipe carefully including my tips and recommendations on how to avoid and fix typical issues during baking this Strawberry Cream tart. A short recipe alone not able to call out all the details that you need to pay attention to while baking therefore most of my recipes contain important information about ingredients and technique
2. Avoid using substitutes and changing the recipe unless you are aware of how to fully reformulate the recipe in order to keep the balance in texture as well as flavour. In general, replacing egg, using gluten-free flour, skipping certain ingredients etc. will all have an impact on your Strawberry Cream tart and sadly I am not able to provide substitutes for all sort of allergies and diets
3. For consistent, happy baking experience always measure your ingredients with the help of a Digital scale. Cup measurement is provided as an indicative figure only and might be used for less complex and large batch recipes however it is not an appropriate method if you want consistent results
4. Did you know that most home ovens can significantly under or oven run? Also, oven temperature hugely drops when opening the oven door therefore it is recommended to always pre-heat the oven above the required baking temperature.
5. Temperature is so important when it comes to baking and accurate oven temperature is key, can make or break any recipe. Make sure you invest into an inexpensive Digital oven thermometer to avoid under baked, burnt, sad looking desserts

Some important notes regarding the INGREDIENTS of this Strawberry Cream tart recipe

For the Pâte Sablée, sweet shortcrust

1. Flour: I am using pastry flour for this Strawberry Cream tart recipe, feel free to use AP if can’t find pastry flour in your local supermarket. If you want to be a Pro when it comes to deciding what type of flour to use in your baking, please read my article in here
2. Almond: Some Pâte Sablée recipes contain almond, some don’t, I prefer mine with some almond flour in it from taste and texture point of view. It is worth to buy good quality ground almond, without skin. Almond can be (partly) replaced with hazelnut, walnut, pistachio flour too
3. Sugar: This sweet pastry dough is made with a small amount of icing sugar that makes the tart case sweet but not overly sweet. If you want to learn about the different types of sugar and how to use them in baking, please read my article in here
4. Salt: An essential ingredient in most of the dessert recipes. Balances flavour and enhances other ingredients. This is a sweet tart dough and I just love that extra very mild salty kick at the end
5. Butter: Use always unsalted as you want to be in control of the quantity of the salt. I am using 82% fat content butter in all my recipes. While in most of the recipes butter needs to be on room temperature, this is an exception and you have to take it very seriously. Butter needs to be chilled, which means take the butter out of the fridge, cut into cubes then place it into the freezer for 10-15 minutes before using it.
6. Egg: Room temperature as always. Egg can´t be left out or replaced unless you have the knowledge to totally reformulate the recipe

As you can making the tart itself for this Strawberry Cream tart is a super simple in terms of the ingredients. The secret behind making beautiful, neat and delicious tart crust is all about mastering the technique, understanding how temperature plays in role while working with the dough and using the right equipment that I will be all explaining further down in this recipe. In my recipe below I cover all the necessary details you need to know to master making tartlets!

For the Vanilla custard (pastry cream)

1. Milk: Use high fat content milk, the highest you can get! It makes all the difference in the world when it comes to deepness of the taste. Custard is one of the key elements of this Strawberry tart
2. Sugar: Simple, white granulated sugar is perfectly fine. If you want to learn about the different types of sugar and how to use them in baking, please read my article in here. I prefer my pastry cream not overly sweet as you will see
3. Egg: Some recipes call for whole egg however I strongly advise to use egg yolk only for the best texture and flavour. Perhaps try my pavlova recipe if you want to use up your egg whites or my macaron recipe also requires egg white. Other, maybe not so obvious note is that the colour of your egg yolk will dictate the colour of your pastry cream. Fresh, free range egg gives the brightest color.
4. Flour: Flour is one of the thickening agent in this pastry cream recipe, use AP flour. No, it won’t taste like flour! If you want to be a Pro when it comes to deciding what type of flour to use in your baking, please read my article in here
5. Starch: Corn starch is the other thickening agent in the recipe, theoretically you could only use flour only OR starch only however I prefer 50%-50%.
6. Vanilla: Vanilla is THE heart of making pastry cream! Avoid using artificial vanilla. There are several great brands for fine, pure vanilla, I use Nielsen massey which I love and really recommend. I use vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract for my custard cream for the deepest, most delicious vanilla flavor
7. Butter: Use always unsalted as you want to be in control of the quantity of the salt. I am using 82% fat content butter in all my recipes. Room temperature is key here. If too cold, it won’t incorporate properly. If too hot/liquid, it will make the pastry cream runny and very difficult to emulsify with the rest of the ingredients

For the topping

1. Fresh strawberry: Use the sweetest most fresh strawberries you can access, cut into smaller pieces . Tip: Grab a few sheets of kitchen towel and gently soak some moisture out from the strawberries after you cut them. In this way strawberries won´t make the cream underneath soggy and your Strawberry cream tart will look super professional
2. Mascarpone: Very rich Italian cream cheese, exceptionally smooth and easily to spread or whip. The flavor is milky and slightly sweet. Make sure you use high quality full fat version, otherwise you might not be able to whip it up
3. Heavy cream: Also known as whipping cream, has a fat content between 36% and 40% , the one I am using is 36%. Use it very cold and do not substitute with vegetable based “whipping cream”. While whipping cream you have to start on low speed then gradually increase. Very easy to over whip so stop beating when frosting reaches a pipeable consistency
4. Icing sugar: Icing sugar is the first choice when it comes to whipping up frosting. Question I often get is whether the quantity is a typo. NO, it´s not! You do not actually need a lot of sugar when making whipped cream! It stays beautifully fluffy without tons on sugar, the secret is the technique of whipping, not the amount of sugar. See my tips below

6 Baking tips regarding the TECHNIQUE of making this Strawberry Cream Tart recipe

As mentioned above this Strawberry Cream tart is relatively easy recipe with impressive results however there are a couple of tips I want to share with you so your dessert will turn out exactly like mines. First and foremost please make sure you check out my Pâte Sablée tutorial where I share plenty of important information you need to know about how to make sweet short pastry.

1. The importance of temperature while making Pâte Sablée

When I started experimenting with baking, I had several disastrous attempts making tart shell. Now I understand that the one and only reason I failed was me being inpatient and forcing the dough even when its temperature was inappropriate.

Baking is science and in general temperature is one of the most important factors to understand AND utilise for our benefit. When I say temperature I don’t purely mean baking temperature but also the environment we work e.g kitchen temperature as well as the dough temperature.

While making sweet shortbread, like this Strawberry Cream tart, temperature is everything! If the dough is too hot, it’s sticky and can’t be rolled out or shaped. If too cold, it will easily break. The entire process is a balancing exercise between keeping the dough cold enough but not too cold.

To give you a concrete example, in a home kitchen environment on a warmer day this practically means taking the sweet shortbread dough in and out of the freezer about 15 times in between steps to ensure the dough is always on the right temperature to work with. If you are lucky and have a cold kitchen, you might be ok with 2-5 chilling breaks. Yes, not just to chill the dough once or twice but to be in control of the dough temperature all the time! Obviously in professional kitchens temperature as well as humidity is under control and the rolling process is done by a laminator machine, however in home environment this is something we have to be super careful with.

2. What equipment is needed to make sweet shortcrust tarte cases

You can only achieve neat, visually appealing, even golden colour tart crust by using professional baking equipment. Luckily these are available to purchase on Amazon not just for professionals but also for home bakers. If you want to make beautiful, patisserie style tarts it’s worth to invest into a perforated baking mat, a couple of perforated tart rings and a silicon mat.

Silicone baking mat

I recommend using 2 Silicone baking mat for rolling the sweet shortbread dough out in between them. The recipe is designed in a way that you do not need to add extra flour while rolling the dough however it might stick to your kitchen counter so use silicone baking mat. It’s also possible to use 2 sheets parchment paper however the silicone mat provides a much neater, smooth surface. It can be washed and then used all the time so overall worth the investment. I am using the “Amazon basics” cheapest version so no need to buy anything expensive.

While rolling, start from the center of the disc and work your way out in all directions. Again remember, temperature is very important. If the dough is too cold, you won´t be able to roll it out. If too warm, it will be difficult to handle and will even stick to the silicone baking mat.

Perforated baking “air” mat

The air mat is perfect for baking tart crust, éclairs or even cookies. Thanks to the holes in the mat, the heat spreads evenly throughout mats’ surface guaranteeing a perfect and even baking without blind baking. The dough won´t puff up while baking the tarts and will be super neat and even.

While baking the tart shells, use the Perforated “air” baking mat straight on top of the oven rack (so not in a baking pan) so that the air can circulate properly. I have been using Perforated “air” baking mat for more than a year now from a brand called Silikomart and loving it.

Perforated tart ring

The Perforated tart rings are non-stick and stainless, they allow homogeneous baking due to the even air circulation. It’s a a genius solution, isn’t it? Silikomart (and some other quality brands) offering the rings in various shapes and sizes, I am using a 8cm (3,14inch) diameter round version. As far as I can see there are several cheap copies of the initial Silikomart product, I am not sure though whether they are made of the same material and whether they work or not.

No need to grease the tart rings, the dough will stick to its side providing a very neat looking beautiful tart shell. I have been using my Perforated tart ring for over a year and it’s the best investment I have ever made.

I can not recommend it enough, it’s really one of those tools you have to invest in once and then will change your baking experience forever!

3. Process of making sweet shortcrust pastry

Now that we covered the most important factors you have to bear in mind while making Pâte Sablée, let´s see how exactly to make sweet shortcrust for this Strawberry Cream tart

• Make sure all ingredients are measured with Digital scale and prepare all the tools ahead:Rolling pin, Silicone baking mat, Perforated “air” baking mat, Perforated tart ring
• Place the measured butter cubes into the freezer for 5-10 minutes
• Sift together dry ingredients; flour, icing sugar, almond, salt, mix so they are combined properly
• Add very cold butter cubes to dry ingredients and rub the mixture between your hands until it becomes a sand like consistency. This will take about 3 minutes, make sure you do not spend too much time with this step as butter can easily warm up and that is something we want to avoid
• Add egg into the mixture and mix with your hands just until the dough comes together. First it might look crumbly but do not add more wet or dry ingredients to the recipe instead gently knead the dough with the palm of your hand for a minute or two (do not over knead and do not use mixer) just until the dough becomes smooth
• If the dough is too warm and sticky, place it into the fridge for 10-15 minutes first. Otherwise continue with rolling the dough out into 2mm thickness between two Silicone baking mat. The recipe quantity is designed in a way that once you roll the dough out it will reach the silicone baking mat from edge to edge
• Place the dough into the freezer for 10-15 min in between the two Silicone baking mat. Do not remove the mat at this point as the dough might stick to the mat while it is warm and it would break the dough
• Prepare your oven rack with the Perforated “air” baking mat and Perforated tart rings on top
• Take the dough sheet out from the freezer, remove the top of the silicone mat, and using one of the Perforated tart rings, cut out 8 circles – this will be the bottom of your tart crust. Carefully move the dough circles with the help of an Offset spatula and place them into the rings one by one
• If at any point the dough gets too warm to work with, pop it back into the freezer for 5 minutes. You might need take the dough in and out of the freezer a lot of times but that is fine, don´t try to force the dough while it is warm. It is extremely important to work with a dough which is cold enough to be able to handle (so not sticky) but not too cold which would result in breaking it
• Cut 8 long stripes out of the dough, this will be the side of the tart
• Carefully place the stripes into the ring one by one. Press each stripe onto the side of the rings so it sticks to it. Again make sure you work with a dough that is cold enough but not frozen as that would make impossible to place it into the tart ring without breaking it
• Place the Perforated tart ring with the pastry dough in them into the freezer for 1 hour
• Pre-heat oven to 160C / 320F
• After 1 hour take the pastry dough with the rings on them out and trim them with a sharp knife
• Bake for 20 min then carefully remove the rings. Once you take the tarts out of the oven wait for a minute or two for the pastry to somewhat contract within the ring then you will be able to easily remove the rings. If ring seems to stuck onto your pastry it means probably you will need to bake it for a few more minutes
• Once tart rings are removed, bake the tart cases for another few minutes. The tarts will be ready baked already after a few minutes however if you wish to bake it until golden brown then bake it for another 10 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet if necessary
• Let them cool on the Perforated “air” baking mat before filling them with custard cream and turning them into delicious Strawberry Cream tarts

4. How to make Vanilla custard filling for this Strawberry Cream tart?

This Strawberry Cream tart is filled with custard cream (pastry cream) , it goes super well both with the shortcrust base and also with stawberrries! Vanilla pastry cream (Creme Patissiere) is one of those essential recipes every home baker has to learn at some point.

This from scratch pastry cream recipe is silky, creamy, loaded with vanilla, rich but not overly sweet, the perfect filling for your desserts and cakes! Please read my step by step Custard filling tutorial in here, I share tons of tips about how to make the perfect Creme Patissiere!

So how to make the Vanilla custard filling for this Strawberry Cream tart recipe?

• In a large enough bowl with the help of a Hand whisk, mix together sugar, egg yolk, corn starch, flour, and vanilla until thoroughly incorporated and have a smooth paste
• Heat milk and sugar in a saucepan on medium heat then remove it as soon as it starts simmering. Make sure it is simmering but not crazy boiling
• Pour simmering milk over the egg yolk mixture slowly while whisking vigorously with a Hand whisk. This stage is effectively tempering the egg yolks and the mixture should already start to thicken slightly
• Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook on medium heat for a few minutes until it thickens. Concretely it is approximately 1 min after the first boil. It might get lumpy first, don’t worry just keep whisking and the cream will get smooth and glossy. It’s worth to keep a good quality (so that the milk won’t burn in it) small/medium sized saucepan for making pastry cream
• If in doubt, strain the pastry cream for a lump free, creamy end result
• Once cream slightly cools (after 5-10 minutes) add in room temperature butter and mix with a Rubber spatula until completely incorporated. It is worth to add the butter in 3 stages and mix well after each addition
• Pastry cream needs to completely cool before using it to fill your Strawberry Cream tartlets. Place the cream into a shallow bowl and cover the entire surface with plastic wrap to avoid skin forming on top. Store in fridge
• Once cooled, you may need to whisk the pastry cream again to get a smooth texture. Make sure you do not over mix it as it can get runny. Give it a few whisk only until smooth.

Please note that the color of this custard cream is highly dependent on the quality of the egg whether it is free range or not. The better the egg, the brighter yellow the egg yolk is making desserts beautifully bright yellow as opposed to pale.

5. How to properly whip cream to decorate the Strawberry Cream tart

An easy, light whipped cream will be added on top of the vanilla custard. Whipped cream frosting is super simple, it consist of heavy cream, mascarpone and a small amount of icing sugar whipped until fluffy, pipeable consistency. It is creamy, milky, a super stable frosting you can use on cupcakes, tartlets, even cakes and way more delicious, less heavy and less sweet than butter cream!

Using the right ingredients on the right temperature is extremely important while making whipping cream.

1. mascarpone has to be cold, use the full fat version (41%+) 2. heave creamy needs to be very cold (pop it into the freezer for a few minutes before using it) and again, full fat version so anywhere between 36-40% 3. icing sugar has to be sifted to avoid lumps 4. do not over whip the mixture

Basically you will have to whip cream with an electric hand mixer for a minute or two until it reaches a creamy, fluffy consistency then stop. It won´t get more stiff after this point, in fact if you over beat it, it will get only runnier then it will break. I don´t use my standmixer to whip cream since it is really easy to over whip it.

6. How to assemble this Strawberry Cream tart with Vanilla custard?

First, you will make the Vanilla custard filling then let it cool before filling the tarts. Then, make the sweet shortcrust tarts and let them cool as well.

Once Tartlets are nicely chilled and pastry cream has set, it is time to assemble your Strawberry Cream tart!

1. Fill pastry shells with custard cream
2. Pipe whipped cream on top then press it down with a spoon (see pic below)
3. Cut strawberries - makes sure you use a few paper kitchen towels and let them soak some juice out of the strawberries – this is necessary so the cream won´t get wet or soggy.
4. After strawberries are arranged decorate with basil or mint leaves and chopped pistachios

Voila, your Strawberry Cream tart with Vanilla custard is ready!

Some more Tart recipe ideas to try

Creamy Raspberry tart – This Raspberry tart recipe is an ideal balance between buttery, melt in your mouth shortcrust pastry and silky raspberry ganache with full of natural raspberry flavour. One of the easiest most delicious tartlets ever! Recipe in here

Triple Hazelnut nut with gold chocolate disk decoration – This Triple hazelnut tart recipe is a dream for hazelnut lovers but what makes it even more special is the gold chocolate disk decoration melted on top! Contrasting layers of melt in your mouth hazelnut Pâte Sablée tartlet shell, silky hazelnut ganache, crunchy hazelnut .. a super complex dessert experience that is much easier to make than it might look, try it! Recipe in here

Strawberry Pistachio tart – This Strawberry Pistachio tart consist of Pâte Sablée sweet shortcrust pastry filled with silky Pistachio ganache and topped with delicious fresh strawberries. Beautiful contrast of rich and nutty Pistachio ganache and refreshing fruit in a buttery, sweet but not too sweet melt in the mouth pastry shell. Recipe in here

Fig Frangipane tart – Pâte Sablée (sweet shortcrust) filled with a incredible delicious, easy almond cream (frangipane) and a slice of fig is what makes this tart a truly amazing autumn recipe! The Franginape tarts are sweet, fruity and nutty at the same time, you will love them! Recipe in here

Caramelized banana & Caramel tart – This is the perfect easy yet fancy dessert you can make at home and impress everyone ! The tart has 3 elements: Home made Pâte Sablée (sweet shortcrust) tart shell, 5 minutes caramelized banana layer, super quick and easy 3 ingredients caramel layer on top. Recipe in here

Passion fruit & Chocolate tart – If you have not tried pairing passion fruit and chocolate before, you are missing out, they are truly match made in heaven! Silky & rich chocolate ganache meets floral & tropical yet tangy passion fruit curd in this Chocolate Pâte Sablée tart shell! Recipe in here

Salted caramel & Chocolate tart – This Salted caramel chocolate tart is one of my favourite tarts ever! Salted caramel and Chocolate are match made in heaven… It just tastes phenomenal as the buttery caramel with slight salty kick meets the silky chocolate ganache! Recipe in here

Coffee tart - This Coffee Tart or Mocha tart recipe is a dream for coffee lovers! Pâte Sablée filled with silky Coffee ganache and decorated with cream that makes it effectively a Cappuccino Tart. Once the Pâte tart shells baked, it is a super easy and quick recipe, the coffee ganache is literally 3 ingredients! Recipe in here

Lemon meringue tart - This Lemon meringue tart recipe is a decorative, individual dessert version of the well know lemon meringue pie. I love everything about this French tartlet recipe! Pâte Sablée sweet shortcrust pastry filled with tangy and creamy lemon curd and topped with sweet and silky Swiss meringue. Recipe in here

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How about trying my strawberry cakes?

Victoria Sponge cake – This Victoria sponge cake recipe combines strawberries and cream that are sandwiched together in my super delicious, moist and fluffy sponge cake! This cake has a moist, tender and melt in your mouth texture with refreshing strawberry and cream filling, that makes the cake super creamy yet balanced in sweetness. Try Queen Victoria´s favorite cake! Recipe in here

Fraisier cake - This spectacular Fraisier cake recipe is the Queen of the Strawberry cakes! Buttery sponge layers filled with incredible delicious Crème mousseline (pastry cream enriched with butter), a layer strawberry compote insert and the signature strawberry decoration around the cake. Recipe in here

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