Strawberry Custard Tart

The best thing about summer is the fresh fruit pies. When I was young, my dad the baker, would make fresh strawberry tarts during strawberry season. He made individual tarts and they always had a thick creamy custard underneath the berries and sauce. I've tried to recreate his tarts over the years, using Bird's Custard Powder and a package of gel sauce. They were good no doubt, but definitely to eat with a fork.

This year I wanted to make the sauce from scratch (no dyes) and I found a recipe for old-fashioned strawberry pie at browneyedbaker.com that sounded great. I used my own tart crust recipe because it's much firmer (and I like mine best) and Bird's custard powder again, and it looked like this:

Trust me, this pie still tasted beyond amazing (we each ate three pieces the first night it was so darned good!), but it didn't present very nicely: the custard was too thin and the gel sauce, which probably worked fine for its original non-custard use, was also too runny for my taste.

With friends coming over, I had an excuse to make another pie, without being tempted to eat so much of it.

I started by making the crust in the food processor. Even with cold chunks of butter, it makes the dough so quickly and easily, it's ridiculous.

Takes only a couple of minutes to spread into the pan.

I don't even bother to poke holes or blind-bake because I find this crust doesn't puff up like a shortening crust will.

While the crust is baking and cooling I started in on the strawberries. What a difference to use local vine-ripened strawberries! The fruit was so soft and flavourful!

 Again, using the food processor, I mixed the strawberries and the sugar until puréed.

The sauce starts off looking almost creamy. I kept whisking until the cornstarch was dissolved and then heated.

 This time I doubled the amount of cornstarch, and it got much thicker.

While the sauce was gelling, I made the custard, this time from scratch, using lots of eggs. It's a little browner than some people may like because I added a generous splash of vanilla. You could also use clear vanilla so it would look yellow. Putting the plastic wrap right on top of the custard kept it from forming a crust. When I tasted the custard I thought it was too sweet, but it was perfect with the strawberries and sauce.

And ta-da, the finished result (this is actually the first pie, I forgot to take a photo of it the second time). I tried to lay the strawberries in a pleasing pattern, but I did not get Dad's decorating gene, and I didn't want to just pour the gelled sauce on top, so I tossed everything together in a bowl and then gently spread the strawberry mix on top of the custard base.

Hubby thought this version was even better, and our guests were certainly happy to eat it. They had seconds, which left just one more serving for hubby and I — perfect!

This is a pretty labour-intensive pie, but in the end, so worth it, that I plan to do it again next year when strawberries are in season. 

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Fresh Strawberry Custard Tart

This brings back memories of the Strawberry Tarts my dad would make during our local strawberry season each summer. So fresh!

Recipe adapted from blog: browneyedbaker.com. Custard is adapted from Ina Garten’s Pastry Cream

Serves 8

1 cup                                         all-purpose flour
1/2 cup                                     butter, softened
1/4 cup                                     granulated sugar

                                                   pinch of salt

5                                                extra-large egg yolks, room temperature
3/4 cup                                     sugar
4 tbsp                                        cornstarch
1-1/2 cups                                scalded milk (milk heated until bubbles form on the pot’s outer ring)
1-1/2 tsp                                   vanilla extract
1 tbsp                                        butter

1 tbsp                                        heavy cream

8 cups                                       fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
3/4 cup                                     granulated sugar
2 tbsp                                        cornstarch
1-1/2 tsp                                  Pectin for low sugar recipes

                                                   Pinch of salt
1 tbsp                                        lemon juice

Crust: Preheat oven to 375°F. To make the tart crust, place all ingredients in food processor and process until dough just comes together. Press dough on base and up side of prepared tart pan with removable bottom. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Let cool.

Custard: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks and sugar on medium-high speed for 4 minutes, or until very thick. Reduce to low speed, and add the cornstarch. With the mixer still on low, slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture. Pour the mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over low heat, whisking frequently until the mixture thickens, 5 to 7 minutes. Don't be alarmed when the custard comes to a boil and appears to curdle; continue whisking constantly, for another 2 minutes; the custard will come together and become very thick. Stir in the vanilla, butter, and heavy cream. Pour the custard into a bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on the custard and refrigerate until cooled.

Berries: Place 2 cups sliced berries in food processor; process to a smooth puree, scraping down the bowl as needed. Pour the berry purée into a medium saucepan; whisk in the sugar, cornstarch, pectin, and salt. Stir in the berry puree. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, and bring to a full boil for 2 minutes to ensure that the cornstarch is fully cooked (mixture will appear frothy when it first reaches a boil, then will darken and thicken with further cooking). Stir in lemon juice and let cool to room temperature.

Pour custard into the tart pan, coating the bottom evenly. Arrange berries on top of pie in a pleasing pattern. Carefully pour glaze over top of pie, using a pastry brush to spread evenly (you don’t have to use it all). Refrigerate pie until chilled, about 2 hours.