Strawberry Tart with layer of Chocolate
Prep 25 mins Bake 8 mins Cook 15 mins Chill 60 mins+ Eat 1:48+ hours
This Strawberry Tart has a surprise inside. Like an Easter egg found on the church lawn, there will be a chocolate treat inside…a layer of your favorite chocolate melted over the pastry crust. Make this beautiful tart ahead of time in only 48 minutes, so you can relax on the main event for your party.
Our Easter Dinner was a “repeat”. My sweetie has become spoiled living with a Chef. So when I told him I was serving the Pork Roast with the Cherry Pinot Noir sauce. He said “again”! The truth is I had the remaining half of the pork loin left from my April 1 Cooking Class in the freezer and well, it had to go… my guests loved it and so did he, evidenced by the shrinking leftovers in the fridge.
I started out the day, following a beautiful church service at St. James preparing our Strawberry Tart – I picked up a 3-pack of Gaviota strawberries at the Venice Farmer’s Market on Friday for $16…ouch! I felt foolish paying this much for strawberries, but I wanted the smaller and sweeter variety for my tart and the vendor told me that this variety was sweet, fragile and couldn’t be shipped, so we were going to have some special Oxnard hand carried berries!
Here’s some easy step-by-step photos to guide you through making this beautiful Strawberry Tart with a layer of Chocolate.
Strawberry Tart
To make this dessert in a flash, prep the pastry dough and pastry cream in advance or the night before and let chill. Then it is a cinch to put it all together in a flash.
2 pints small-medium strawberries
TART DOUGH:
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup butter
- 2-3 T ice water
PASTRY CREAM:
- 2 cups milk
- vanilla bean
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- gelatin packet poured over 2 T cold water
- 1T butter
- 3 T Grand Marnier
CHOCOLATE LAYER: Your favorite 3.5 oz chocolate bar
GLAZE:
- 1/2 cup seedless strawberry jam
- 2 T sugar
- Water to thin
1. For the tart shell, either use a bowl or food processor. Combine flour, sugar and salt. Cut butter into chunks. Add to bowl and process by pulsing until mixture resembles cornmeal. Add ice water, pulse to combine. Pour out contents onto plastic wrap. Fold the plastic wrap over the dough and press contents into a uniform dough, then shape into a round flat disc. Refrigerate for an hour if you can.
2. Make Pastry Cream:
In 4-quart saucepan, heat milk and vanilla until scalded. (Bubbles form on sides of pan). While milk is heating, Combine sugar, flour and eggs in medium mixing bowl and whisk together. Add 1/2 cup or so of heated milk to the egg mixture while whisking. When blended and smooth, return mixture to the pan with remaining milk and continually whisk all together, to prevent scrambled eggs from forming. Heat on low and keep whisking until mixture thickens. Scrape bottom of pan with rubber scraper from time to time to prevent eggs from gelling on the bottom. In small bowl, pour gelatin packet over 2 Tablespoons of cold water and let sit for 5-10 minutes or until it has softened. Once pastry cream has thickened, stir gelatin mixture into pastry cream. Then, add butter and Grand Marnier and put in refrig to chill for about an hour.
3. While things are cooling, hull strawberries, by using melon baller to take off green top and rinse off. Allow to dry before assembly.
4. Bake pastry shell. Preheat oven to 400° Flour your surface heavily. Roll out your dough, patting flour on both sides with each roll and roll to the size of your 10″ tart pan, a 9″ pie plate or a 9×9 square baking pan. Work quickly so butter does not warm and quickly place dough into pan. Press into place and patch any spots with extra dough. Sprinkling water on dough will allow it to stick. Prick bottom and sides thoroughly with a fork. Bake until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. While cooling melt your chocolate either in a double boiler or in the microwave using low or 30% power – 1 minute at at time. Once it is melted, spread it on your pastry shell and allow to cool or refrigerate until chocolate has hardened.
5. Assemble tart by pouring pastry cream into tart shell.
6. Line up your strawberries, stem end down, starting out the outside edge and end in the center. Warm jam with sugar in a small saucepan, thinning with water as necessary. With a silicon or pastry brush, brush glaze on each strawberry. Refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight. Enjoy!
Strawberry Tart
Ingredients
- 2 pints small-medium strawberries
TART DOUGH:
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup butter
- 2-3 T ice water
PASTRY CREAM:
- 2 cups milk
- vanilla bean
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- gelatin packet poured over 2 T cold water
- 1 T butter
- 3 T Grand Marnier
CHOCOLATE LAYER: Your favorite 3.5 oz chocolate bar
GLAZE:
- 1/2 cup seedless strawberry jam
- 2 T sugar
- Water to thin
Instructions
- For the tart shell, either use a bowl or food processor. Combine flour, sugar and salt. Cut butter into chunks. Add to bowl and process by pulsing until mixture resembles cornmeal. Add ice water, pulse to combine. Pour out contents onto plastic wrap. Fold the plastic wrap over the dough and press contents into a uniform dough, then shape into a round flat disc. Refrigerate for an hour if you can.
Make Pastry Cream:
- In 4-quart saucepan, heat milk and vanilla until scalded. (Bubbles form on sides of pan). While milk is heating, Combine sugar, flour and eggs in medium mixing bowl and whisk together. Add 1/2 cup or so of heated milk to the egg mixture while whisking. When blended and smooth, return mixture to the pan with remaining milk and continually whisk all together, to prevent scrambled eggs from forming. Heat on low and keep whisking until mixture thickens. Scrape bottom of pan with rubber scraper from time to time to prevent eggs from gelling on the bottom. In small bowl, pour gelatin packet over 2 Tablespoons of cold water and let sit for 5-10 minutes or until it has softened. Once pastry cream has thickened, stir gelatin mixture into pastry cream. Then, add butter and Grand Marnier and put in refrig to chill for about an hour.
- While things are cooling, hull strawberries, by using melon baller to take off green top and rinse off. Allow to dry before assembly.
- Bake pastry shell. Preheat oven to 400° Flour your surface heavily. Roll out your dough, patting flour on both sides with each roll and roll to the size of your 10" tart pan, a 9" pie plate or a 9x9 square baking pan. Work quickly so butter does not warm and quickly place dough into pan. Press into place and patch any spots with extra dough. Sprinkling water on dough will allow it to stick. Prick bottom and sides thoroughly with a fork. Bake until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. While cooling melt your chocolate either in a double boiler or in the microwave using low or 30% power - 1 minute at at time. Once it is melted, spread it on your pastry shell and allow to cool or refrigerate until chocolate has hardened.
- Assemble tart by pouring pastry cream into tart shell.
- Line up your strawberries, stem end down, starting out the outside edge and end in the center. Warm jam with sugar in a small saucepan, thinning with water as necessary. With a silicon or pastry brush, brush glaze on each strawberry. Refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight. Enjoy!
- ENJOY THIS RECIPE FROM FreshFoodinaFlash.com
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