Strawberry Custard Tart

This strawberry custard tart is so delicious with a simple tart crust, pastry cream filling and fresh strawberries.  You can make this tart easily with my step-by-step tutorial.

Strawberry tart and fruit tart are my favorite tarts.  My French pastry cream and my tart crust recipe make a perfect combination with fresh strawberries on top.

There is a chocolate surprise in this tart which is optional but I love it this way a lot.  I made the same in my strawberry cookie cups.  Before I add the pastry cream, I brush the crust with melted chocolate.  

This not only makes it delicious but also avoids the crust to become soggy as chocolate makes a barrier between the crust and the filling.

Ingredients you’ll need

You can find the exact quantities at the bottom of my post, in the recipe card.

• Strawberries-I use fresh strawberries.
• Eggs-I use 1 large egg for the crust and 3 egg yolks for the creamy pastry cream.
• Flour-I use all purpose flour for the tart crust recipe.
• Sugar-I use granulated sugar for both the crust and the pastry cream.
• Butter-I use unsalted butter for the crust.
• Cornstarch-Just a little, thickens the pastry cream.
• Milk-I use whole milk to make creamy pastry cream.
• Chocolate-This is optional but I like to cover the crust with chocolate. This is not only delicious this way but also as I mentioned above chocolate works as a barrier between the crust and pastry cream. If you won’t finish the tart immediately, chocolate will avoid the crust become soggy.

Step by step instructions

First I make the tart crust. I make the pastry cream while the tart dough is resting in the fridge. 

You can either make the crust by hand or use a food processor. I share both versions in my tart crust recipe post. You should check my post for all the details.

Here I quickly summarize how I make it by hand. I mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl with a whisk. Then I add the cubed butter and use my pastry cutter to cut the butter into the flour. Instead, you can use your fingertips.

Next I add the egg and gently incorporate into the mixture. Then I make a ball, cover with plastic film and let the dough rest in the fridge for an hour or in the freezer for 15 minutes.

While the dough is resting, I make the pastry cream.

You can check my French pastry cream post where I share it in detail.  Today I share it here how I make it with vanilla extract but in my pastry cream post, I also share information about how you can use a vanilla bean.

Simply I bring the milk and half of the sugar to a boil in a saucepan at high heat.  While it is on the stove, I stir half of the sugar with egg yolks and then I add the cornstarch and stir until combined well.

Once the mixture comes to a boil, I remove the saucepan from the heat.  I pour almost ⅓ of the milk into the egg mixture while whisking constantly to prevent it from curdling. 

Then I pour the egg mixture into the milk mixture and whisk at the same time. Finally, I stir in the vanilla extract and place the saucepan over med-high heat. 

I constantly stir the mixture with a whisk and let it boil for 2 minutes. Next, I pour the pastry cream into a large and shallow bowl so it cools fast. I immediately cover the pastry cream with a plastic film to prevent skin from forming on top.

After it cools at room temperature, I keep it in the fridge to become firm. 

Now I continue with the tart dough. Please keep in mind that I simply make a brief summary here as I have a whole post including all the details step by step in my tart crust post.

Once firm enough, I start to roll the dough into 11 inch (28 cm).

Then I loosely roll the dough around the rolling pin and gently unroll the dough into the pan. Using a rolling pin back and forth, I cut the excess dough.

Next I gently press the sides with my finger so the dough will go over the pan almost 0.12 inch (3mm). This step is to make sure that once baked, the dough shrinks almost to the place where it was supposed to be before.

I prick the bottom of the dough with a fork so the bottom doesn’t puff while baking. Then I keep the dough in the freezer for almost 40-60 minutes. Once the dough is firm enough, I bake the dough. It takes almost 25 minutes to bake.

Optional step: When the crust completely cools, I remove it from the pan. I melt the chocolate over bain marie; I place chocolate into a small heatproof bowl that sits over a pan of simmering water.   The simmering water doesn’t touch the bowl that is full of chocolate.

I stir the chocolate until melted. Using a pastry brush, I cover the crust surface. Then I keep the crust in the fridge for almost 20 minutes until the chocolate sets.

In the mean time, I start to cut the strawberries into pieces. You can decorate your tart as you like. I like to cut the strawberries in half and place them just on the pastry cream filled tart crust with pointed side up straight.

If you like you can decorate with whole strawberries(again stems removed). It is totally a personal preference.

When the chocolate is almost set, I remove the pastry cream from the fridge and stir with a whisk. As I mention in my pastry cream post, it becomes very firm in the fridge so we need to stir with a whisk to let it come to the ideal consistency. I don’t over whisk and I stop when it is smooth.

I remove the crust from the fridge that is set to assemble the tart.

You can either use a piping bag to place the pastry cream into the tart crust or simply spoon and spread it. There will be some pastry cream left unless you haven’t had some to taste it right after you made it-just like me.

I start from the edges and place the pointed-sharp side of the strawberries straight to the pastry cream.

Especially if you think you won’t finish the tart the same day, I suggest you brush the strawberries with apricot glaze just like I do in my easy apple tart recipe. Besides adding a shiny look, this glaze will keep them fresh.

You can make the glaze simply cooking the apricot jam with water in a small pan for almost 2 minutes until the mixture is liquid. Then you should strain the jam through a fine-mesh strainer to have a smooth glaze. It is as simple as this.

I hope you enjoy this strawberry custard tart as much I do!

Strawberry recipes you may enjoy!

• Strawberry Crumble Bars
• Strawberry Crumble Cake
• Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins
• Strawberry Banana Smoothie without Yogurt
• Easy Strawberry Mousse Dessert
• 2 Ingredient Strawberry Cups

I love hearing from you!  If you try this recipe or my other recipes please leave a comment and give a star rating!