Strawberry Pistachio Tart

A classic of any French bakery, this strawberry pistachio tart recipe will bring a delicious, fruity pop of colour to the end of any meal.

It’s springtime! Isn’t it? Weather seems a bit confused in any case. In the past weeks we’ve been through the whole 4 seasons on repeat, never knowing what the next day (or hours) will hold.

Regardless, produce seems to have kept up with its usual schedule and we’ve been lucky to find the most beautiful strawberries, asparagus, spring onions, and I’ve been relentlessly buying and consuming them ever since.

A simple fruit tart is one of my absolute favourite desserts. Fresh, sweet red fruit is probably your best choice to contrast with the creamy vanilla filling, but I have an inkling apricots and peaches would go wonderfully here too, once the summer months come around.

But Bianca, I hear you ask, do I have to make my own pastry? Do I have to make my own filling? And the short answer is no, you don’t. Will it taste better with homemade pistachio shortcrust and vanilla pastry cream? Absolutely. Can you take a shortcut and still serve an amazing dessert? Absolutely. 2 spoonfuls of pistachio paste spread over the crust will get you that delicious pistachio flavour, while an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract in the pastry cream will take it over the top.

If, however, you do have a bit of time, this little work of art is worth spending the time on. I suggest you make and bake your shortcrust and pastry cream the day before, leaving you with just assembly on the day you plan to serve it.

Adding the warmed jam on top ensures a beautiful shine for your strawberries, while also imparting a hint of extra sweetness and strawberry pure flavour.

Without further ado, let’s make this!

PISTACHIO STRAWBERRY TART

recipe by Briochette

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the pistachio shortcrust

140g flour

100g cold unsalted butter, cubed

50g sugar

tiny pinch of salt

1 egg

50g shelled pistachios

For the pastry cream

1/2 vanilla bean, split open, seeds removed

350ml milk

30g cornstarch

80g sugar

4 egg yolks

35g butter

tiny pinch of salt

For the strawberry topping

500g strawberries, washed, hulled, sliced

few fresh mint leaves

2 tbsp strawberry jam, warmed until it liquifies, strained if it has seeds in

MAKE IT:

Start by making your shortcrust base. In the bowl of a food processor add the flour, sugar, salt and pistachio. Process for about 30 seconds until it all becomes a green powder. Add the cubed butter and pulse until you have a mixture resembling wet sand. Add the egg and pulse some more, until the mixture comes together into a ball. Depending on the size of your egg it may be that this doesn’t happen immediately and you may need to add a tablespoonful of cold water.

Tip the dough onto plastic foil and wrap it well, shaping it into a disc. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until needed (if more than one hour make sure to take it out of the fridge 10 minutes in advance to make it easier to work with).

To make the pastry cream, start by warming the milk with the sugar and vanilla bean and seeds in saucepan. Separately beat the egg yolks, salt and cornstarch.

When the mixture comes to a boil, pour half of it in a steady stream over the egg yolk mixture, to temper them. Pour the egg yolk-milk mixture back into the saucepan on a medium low heat.

Stir continuously until the pastry cream reaches boiling point agin and mix vigorously another minute or so, until it thickens. Take off the heat and add the cubed butter. Leave to cool with some plastic wrap pressed onto the surface to avoid it forming a “skin”.

To blind bake the pistachio base: preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius.

Take the dough out of the fridge and roll it to a size that will accommodate your tart pan. I used a 20 cm square one, these quantities will work for a 22 cm round one as well. Place dough gently in the pan and press it down to cover it completely and go up the sides.

Pierce the dough repeatedly with a fork and bake it for about 15-20 minutes, until crunchy and cooked through.

When ready to assemble, prepare your strawberries (I like to both slice them and quarter them depending on size, in order to really fill every nook and cranny in the tart). Warm up the strawberry jam until it is liquid.

Mix the pastry cream well to make sure it is homogenous. Remove the vanilla bean and pour it into the baked tart shell and spread it evenly.

Decorate with plenty of strawberries, really covering the whole tart. Using a pastry brush, brush warm jam all over them and decorate with a few mint leaves for a pop of colour.

It’s ready to serve, dig in and enjoy!