What's the perfect summer dessert? Fruit tarts, of course. Here, Raiza Costa — of Dulce Delight and Jamie Oliver's Food Tube — talks through the crust, cream, and strawberries she uses in her light, buttery take on the ultimate warm-weather treat.
Dulce Delight's Fruit Tart
CRUST:
1 cup all purpose flour2 tbsp sugarPinch of salt8 tbsp unsalted butter, cold1 large eggCold water if needed
To make the pie crust, combine the flour, sugar, salt and butter in a bowl and hand mix together until ingredients come together to a pea-sized crumble. Add the egg and continue hand mixing into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.Roll out the dough and lay it into a tart pan, piercing smalls holes to allow the hot air in the oven to release while baking. Bake at 350 degrees until edges are brown (about 30 minutes).PASTRY CREAM:
1.5 tbsp all purpose flour1.5 tbsp cornstarch1 cup whole milk1 cup heavy cream1/2 vanilla bean4 large egg yolks5 tbsp sugar2 cups strawberries to decorateFor the pastry cream, in a pot, combine whole milk and heavy cream and infuse it with vanilla bean. On your stove top, bring the liquid mixture to a boil. Once it reaches the boil, turn the heat off, put a lid on, and let it steep for 10 minutes.
In a separate bowl, separate the egg yolks from the whites and whisk sugar into the yolks until it's a pale yellow color. Now, add the thickening agents—flour and cornstarch—and slowly add it to the vanilla cream mixture. Bring it back to the stove top and let it boil for 3 minutes. Remove it from the heat, let it cool, cover it tight with plastic wrap, and let it refrigerate.
Slice the strawberries, or any fruit you'd like to decorate with, in even slices. Let the crust cool and then spread the cream out. Decorate with strawberries and top with glaze, recipe below.
FRUIT GLAZE (optional)
5 gelatin sheets
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
1/4 orange zest
1/4 lemon zest
1/2 vanilla beanTo make the glaze, combine sugar and water in a pan. Add orange zest, lemon zest and vanilla. Bring to a boil and stir just until the sugar have dissolved. Remove from heat.
In a bowl filled with cold water soak the gelatin sheets for 5 minutes. Squeeze them and add to the warm sugar mixture. Strain the syrup and brush over the strawberries. Keeps good for 2 weeks on the fridge. Warm it at a double boiler to reuse.
