I’ve always loved a fresh cream strawberry tart, topped with that gloopy sweet glaze and fresh strawberries (that haven’t been frozen first).
When looking for Strawberry tart recipes getting the proper glaze was the hardest part, as they are almost always listed as jam / preserve based glaze. This is not what I had from local bakeries growing up, and was never going to replace my Tesco strawberry tart habit!
This recipe reflects the sort of glaze that I grew up with. Feel free to go back to a jam glaze if you are short on time, but you should try this at least once! The extra effort is worth it.
Strawberry Tart
~ makes 4 individual tarts.
- 1 roll of pre-made shortcrust pastry, pre-made pastry cases, or make your own shortcrust pastry
- 2/3 cup caster sugar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch
- 1 cup of apple juice
- 16 strawberries, large
- red food dye, optional
- whipped cream, optional
- ice cream, optional
If making your own pastry cases, preheat the oven as per packet instructions.
Roll the shortcrust pastry flat and place inside your tart cases.
When baking I would suggest blind baking, to ensure flat bottoms to your pastry cases. Cover with greaseproof paper and then fill with ceramic baking beans.
Cook for around 15 – 20 minutes, till starting to brown. Leave the pastry cases to cool. Remember the ceramic baking beans will be really hot, so be careful when removing them.
While cases cool, make the glaze. Add the sugar, cornstarch and apple juice to a pan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring to remove lumps, until thick. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
You will notice the glaze is not a hugely appetising colour you can optionally add some red food dye. However it doesn’t look bad if in a bowl you mix the hulled strawberries with a couple of spoonfuls of the glaze. (If you pour the glaze over the top of the strawberries it may end up looking not so great, like this.)
Depending on what you fancy either add a dollop of freshly whipped cream to the bottom of each tart then top with the glazed strawberries. Or add the glazed strawberries and top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, although this way you’ll need to serve immediately.
I did half my batch with whipped cream and the other half with ice cream over two nights. Amazing.
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