I love a custard tart and this strawberry custard tart is no exception. The shortcrust base is the perfect crisp vehicle for the pastry cream filling and those perfectly ripe and sweet strawberries. This strawberry tart with custard is perfect for any occasion, including birthdays, barbecues and Mothers day.
If you love this, you’re definitely going to love my French fruit custard tart.
❤️ Why you’ll love it
- The base is buttery but not too sweet,
- A soft-yet-set, sweet and luscious filling
- It’s easy to make – though plan ahead for chilling time.
- Delicate and elegant – perfect for a party, brunch, Mother’s Day, Easter…
- You can make the tart shell 2-3 days in advance.
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Ingredients and substitutions
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
- The tart shell is made up of butter, sugar, egg and flour (plain flour / all purpose flour). I use large eggs in all my baking.
- The custard filling uses more of the same – eggs, sugar, butter – then the creamy texture comes together with milk (whole milk / full cream milk) and cornflour (US cornstarch).
- The topping is just two simple ingredients; fresh, ripe strawberries and a little strawberry jam to add shine. You can sub the latter for apricot jam too.
Variations
- Pastry: For the tart shell, you can certainly use shop-bought shortcrust pastry or even a pre-made tart shell, though making it from scratch isn’t difficult at all and I promise it tastes better.
- Fruit topping: Instead of strawberries, you can use any berries you like, just like my fruit custard tart – a mixture of raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and strawberries looks stunning. You can also use other fruit that is in season like peaches, nectarines, apricots or mangoes, like this mango tart. In cooler months, try oranges or sauteed apples.
- Flavourings: Flavour the custard with orange blossom water or rosewater for something special. Orange zest or lemon zest are also lovely additions. You can also use extracts in the same flavours though start with just small amounts.
How to make strawberry custard tart
This impressive French strawberry tart is easier to make than it looks. While you need to plan ahead for chilling time, there is nothing difficult here.
Getting ahead: Since there are a few components here, while each is quick and easy, you may want to prep some far in advance so you can fit it in between doing other things. See my notes further down in the post but put simply;
- The tart shell pastry dough can be prepared ahead and chilled for up to 3 days before baking. It can be baked 1 day before assembling.
- The pastry cream can be made 2 days in advance.
Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.
1. Make the pastry dough
This shortcrust pastry (similar to French pâte sablée) is short, flaky and a little crumbly and perfect for tarts like this. It’s also incredibly quick and easy to make.
Start by processing flour, sugar, butter and a little salt until the butter pieces are about pea-sized. Add an egg and blend it on low until it looks like breadcrumbs, like this.
Now drizzle in water with the food processor running until it just starts forming clumps.
Tip the dough out onto a clean surface and form it into a disk. Try not to knead it too much. You don’t want to melt the small bits of butter through it.
Next, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface.
Lay the pastry over the tart pan (you don’t need to line the tart pan first) and nudge the sides down into the corners (don’t stretch it out from the middle). Leave the overhang and chill it for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
2. Blind bake
Blind baking means to bake a pastry shell without the filling. You need to prep it first though. When you’re ready to make your tart, take the shell out of the fridge and trim the overhang off using a sharp knife or dinner knife.
Dock the base, which just means to use a fork to poke holes all over the base. This allows steam to escape.
Line the tart shell with baking paper, then fill it with pie weights or just rice. You can reuse the rice for all your blind baking – I’ve been using this batch for years. You’ll bake the tart shell for 20 minutes before removing the paper and rice and then bake for a further 15 minutes.
3. Make the filling
The custard filling is actually pastry cream (or crème patissiere) and it’s very quick to make. Whisk together eggs and cornflour (US cornstarch) in a bowl.
In a medium saucepan, heat some milk, butter and sugar until steaming. Pour the hot milk mixture slowly into a mixture of eggs and cornflour while whisking.
Return it all to a pan and stir with a whisk until it gets really thick and no longer settles into itself when you lift the whisk out. Let it come to a bubble and cook for another 30-60 seconds, whisking constantly.
4. Fill the shell
Pour the custard filling into the tart shell and level out (an offset spatula makes this really simple). It will need about 3 hours to set properly or overnight is fine. Depending on the depth of your tart shell, you may have more custard than you need to fill it.
The custard strawberry tart is best decorated with strawberries on the day of serving so the juice doesn’t soften the tart shell or seep into the custard. Do this at least 30 minutes before serving though, so you can chill it and the jam will set again.
Tips and tricks
- Don’t skip chilling time: If you want a perfect tart shell that doesn’t shrink or deform as it bakes, chilling is the key. At least 2 hours is great or overnight is even better.
- Try not to handle the dough too much: Another key to perfect crisp pastry is not handling it too much. Being light with the touch and moving quickly creates light, crisp pastry.
- Shape the pastry: When you press it into the tin, make sure to press it right into the bottom corners and all around the fluted edge leaving the overhanging pastry standing up. Then chill. This will help you get perfect edges and a gorgeous-looking tart shell after it’s been baked.
- Dry the strawberries well: This is really important so that the juice doesn’t seep out and soften or discolour your pastry.
- Plan ahead: You’ll need at least 2 hours chilling time for the tart shell and 3 ½ hours chilling time for the assembled tart so make sure to plan ahead.
⏰ Can I make this strawberry tart ahead of time?
The short answer is “in parts”. This custard and strawberry tart is best eaten the day it’s assembled but you can make the parts ahead of time to make assembly the only job on the day you want to eat it.
- The pastry dough: The dough itself can be made and frozen (either as a disk of dough or shaped into a tart shell) for up to 2 months so feel free to prepare way ahead of time. You can chill the dough, shaped into the tart pan for up to 3 days in the fridge.
- The baked tart shell: Once the tart shell is baked, it can be chilled for 1 day before using or frozen for up to 2 months. Be careful if you’re freezing it: keep it in the tart pan and make sure not to stack things on top of it.
- The custard filling: The vanilla pastry cream filling can be made ahead and chilled for up to 2 days. Give it a good whisk when it comes out of the fridge to get it smooth again, then spread it into the baked tart shell.
All that being said, you can have this tart fully made in one day. Allowing for both hands-on time and 5 hours chilling time, you’ll need about 6 ½ hours total.
Yield and storage
This recipe makes a 9 inch French strawberry tart and serves 10-12 people.
Leftover custard strawberry tart should be stored in the fridge for 1-2 days in an airtight container.
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Ingredients
TART SHELL (SHORTCRUST PASTRY)
- 225 g plain flour (all purpose flour) (8oz)
- 50 g white granulated sugar (¼ cup / ~1 ¾ oz)
- 100 g unsalted butter cold and cubed (7 tablespoons / 3 ½)
- 1 large egg cold
- 1 ½ tablespoons water cold (6 tsp, notes 1)
FOR THE FILLING
- 3 ¼ cups milk (810ml / 1 ¾ pints)
- 57 g butter (¼ cup / ½ stick / 2oz)
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)
- 100 g granulated white sugar (½ cup / 3 ½oz)
- ½ cup cornflour (US cornstarch) (65g / ~2 ⅓oz)
- 2 large eggs
- 3 egg yolks, from large eggs
FOR THE TOPPING
- 4 cups small strawberries (500g / ~1lb)
- 2 tablespoons strawberry jam
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- stand mixer Or see post for using a food processor
- 9 inch fluted tart pan
- Rolling Pin
- pie weights or rice
- heavy based saucepan
Instructions
- FOR THE TART SHELL:In the bowl of a food processor, add the flour, sugar, cubed butter and a pinch of salt. Process on low until the pieces of butter are about pea-sized. See notes 3 to make without a food processor.
- Add the egg and process until it looks a bit like breadcrumbs.
- With the food processor running on low, drizzle in the water until it starts forming clumps.
- Turn the pastry out onto a clean work surface and gently pull it together. Knead it only enough to make it mostly smooth.
- Now, on a lightly floured work surface, dust the top of the pastry with flour too and gently roll it out, turning it often, to about 4-5mm thick or about 11 inches in diameter.
- Place the rolling pin in the middle of the dough and fold one side of the pastry over the top. Lift the rolling pin so the pastry is hanging over it, and lightly dust off any excess flour from underneath. Carefully lay it into a 9 inch round tart pan with removeable base.
- Press the dough down in to the corners all the way round, then press it into the scalloped sides. Leave the overhang standing upright and place the tart pan into the fridge to chill for a minimum of 2 hours or overnight. If your freezer has space you can place it in there.
- BAKE THE TART SHELL:Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) / 350F.
- Use a fork to prick the pastry base all over. Use a small sharp knife to trim off the excess pastry.
- Line the tart shell with a sheet of baking paper and fill with pie weights or rice. Fill it quite full and making sure it’s pressed up tight against the edges.
- Bake for 20 minutes. You can proceed with making the filling while it bakes.
- After 20 minutes. Carefully remove the baking paper and rice (or weights) and bake a further 15 minutes or until golden then set the tart shell aside.
- FOR THE CUSTARD FILLING:Pour the milk into a heavy based saucepan, and add the butter, sugar and vanilla, then heat over medium heat until steaming, stirring regularly.
- While the milk mixture is heating, whisk together the cornflour, eggs and egg yolks until combined.
- Once the milk mixture is steaming, drizzle it slowly into the eggs while whisking constantly. Don’t pour it too quickly or the heat will scramble the eggs.
- Return the entire mix to the saucepan. Heat over low-medium heat, stirring with a balloon whisk constantly, until it gets very thick. This will happen quite suddenly after about 5 minutes, so it’s important to keep stirring so you don't get lumpy custard. Let it come to a bubble and then cook, stirring constantly for another 30-60 seconds. It should be so thick at this point that it doesn't settle back into itself.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool for a couple of minutes before pouring into your tart shell. Level out the top with an offset spatula or knife.Depending on the depth of your tart shell, you may have more custard than you need to fill it. You can put any excess into ramekins and have them as a treat.
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap pressed to the surface and place in the fridge and chill for 3 hours to set. Top with strawberries on the day of serving.
- FOR THE TOPPING:Wash the strawberries and dry well. Hull them. Keep one whole, then cut the rest in half. Set aside.
- Warm the strawberry jam in the microwave for 10-15 seconds.
- Place the whole strawberry in the centre of the custard. Arrange the halved strawberries around it in a spiral.
- Brush with the jam and chill for at least another ½ hour.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- All ovens vary – always test for doneness 3-5 minutes before the recipe suggests
- For best results, you should always weigh ingredients like flour and sugar. Kitchen scales are relatively cheap but if you can’t weigh the ingredients, use the spoon and level method (don’t scoop).
- If you don’t have a food processor, grate cold butter into the bowl with the flour and sugar and cut the butter in using a knife, your fingertips or a pastry blender.
- You can flavour your dough with a little vanilla extract or lemon zest too.
- If your dough is too crumbly, and you’ve correctly weighed the flour, sugar and butter, it could be due to the size of your egg. The dough should be soft and pliable so If you need to bring it together a little more, just add a touch of cold water.
FAQs
See above for the finer details but yes. It’s best eaten the day it’s assembled though will keep for 1-2 days or make it in parts.
While I urge you to try making your own (it really is simple), store-bought pastry can be quite good and a real convenience, so yes you can. Make sure to use shortcrust pastry. You can also use a pre-made tart shell if you can get one.
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4 Comments on “Strawberry Custard Tart”
It was incredible, really appreciate the recipe🙏😊
I’m so happy you love it, Mimi. Truly appreciate you dropping back to leave a review.
HI Marie,
That tart looks so good!! I Love your recipes!! I have frozen strawberries and frozen blueberries I know I would have to let them defrost, would that be ok to use them?
Thank you .
Hugs,
Teresa
Hello Teresa and thank you so much for your support 🤗. As frozen berries break down quite a bit once they’re thawed out, I don’t think they’d look very good on top if left whole. You could maybe make a berry sauce out of them instead and serve the tart with the berry sauce spooned over – a bit like this blueberry cheese tart.