If you’re planning a pot luck gathering or got invited for one this National Day, consider bringing a homemade strawberry tart. It has all the elements of a crowd-pleaser: it’s sweet, bursts with fruity flavours and the flush of red strawberries is thematic of the holiday and not to mention visually stunning.
The recipe provided here is by Singaporean pastry chef Cheryl Koh who helms French patisserie, Tarte by Cheryl Koh. Chef Cheryl is known for her style of working with fresh, seasonal fruit – an approach to pastries she applies at two-Michelin-starred Les Amis where she heads the dessert section.
The recipe provided here is by Singaporean pastry chef Cheryl Koh who helms French patisserie, Tarte by Cheryl Koh. Chef Cheryl is known for her style of working with fresh, seasonal fruit – an approach to pastries she applies at two-Michelin-starred Les Amis where she heads the dessert section.
She prefers using Gariguette strawberries for this tart. “They are a variety of strawberries from the Plougastel area in Brittany France,” she says. “I use fruits that are in season and these strawberries are fresh and fragrant, they are full of flavour and I pair this with a light vanilla cream on a freshly baked tart to bring out their full flavour and fragrance.”
While the recipe itself calls for several elements, the procedure is relatively straightforward even for the beginner cook. It does however call for the mastery of making pastry cream – a basic pastry-making technique. For this the only tips chef Cheryl has are to use “good ingredients (milk, eggs, sugar, flour) and use clean and appropriate-sized saucepans and utensils. “She adds: the milk should be boiling before pouring into the egg yolk mixture.”
Here’s the entire recipe.
SEE ALSO: Pandan Chiffon Cake Recipe from Michelin-Starred Candlenut
While the recipe itself calls for several elements, the procedure is relatively straightforward even for the beginner cook. It does however call for the mastery of making pastry cream – a basic pastry-making technique. For this the only tips chef Cheryl has are to use “good ingredients (milk, eggs, sugar, flour) and use clean and appropriate-sized saucepans and utensils. “She adds: the milk should be boiling before pouring into the egg yolk mixture.”
Here’s the entire recipe.
The Tart Shell
Ingredients
1. 34g Butter
2. 25g Icing sugar
3. 14g Almond powder
4. 11g Eggs (one egg = approx 50g)
5. 56g Cake flour
Method
1. Paddle butter and icing sugar until mixed
2. Add eggs and paddle until combined
3. Add almond powder and flour and mix until evenly combined
4. Flatten the dough and cling wrap, refrigerate for 6 hours
5. Roll the cold dough into a thin sheet and cut into circles slightly bigger than the mould
6. Line the tart moulds with the dough
7. Bake at 180C for 18 minutes, until golden brown
8. Remove the tart shells from the moulds and allow them to cool
Ingredients
1. 34g Butter
2. 25g Icing sugar
3. 14g Almond powder
4. 11g Eggs (one egg = approx 50g)
5. 56g Cake flour
Method
1. Paddle butter and icing sugar until mixed
2. Add eggs and paddle until combined
3. Add almond powder and flour and mix until evenly combined
4. Flatten the dough and cling wrap, refrigerate for 6 hours
5. Roll the cold dough into a thin sheet and cut into circles slightly bigger than the mould
6. Line the tart moulds with the dough
7. Bake at 180C for 18 minutes, until golden brown
8. Remove the tart shells from the moulds and allow them to cool
Pastry Cream
Ingredients
80g Milk
20g Cream
Vanilla Pod to taste
16g Egg Yolk
16g Sugar
8g Cornflour
20g Butter
Method
1. Weigh vanilla, cream and milk into a pot
2. Weigh cornflour, yolk and sugar into a bowl and whisk until well combined
3. Heat the milk mixture until it starts steaming
4. Pour half the heated milk mixture into the yolk mixture and whisk until combined
5. Pour the mixture back into the pot
6. Bring the custard to a boil and whisk for 7mins at medium heat
7. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter until completely combined
8. Chill the pastry cream
Crème Diplomat
Ingredients
1. 120g Pastry cream
2. 40g Cream
Method
1. whisk the cream to soft peak stage
2. Soften the pastry cream by whisking it, then use a spatula to fold in the cream.
Assembly
1. Fill the baked tart with the Crème Diplomat till it reaches the top.
2. Arrange cut strawberries in desired design.
Recommended reading: Get more recipes here.
Ingredients
80g Milk
20g Cream
Vanilla Pod to taste
16g Egg Yolk
16g Sugar
8g Cornflour
20g Butter
Method
1. Weigh vanilla, cream and milk into a pot
2. Weigh cornflour, yolk and sugar into a bowl and whisk until well combined
3. Heat the milk mixture until it starts steaming
4. Pour half the heated milk mixture into the yolk mixture and whisk until combined
5. Pour the mixture back into the pot
6. Bring the custard to a boil and whisk for 7mins at medium heat
7. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter until completely combined
8. Chill the pastry cream
Crème Diplomat
Ingredients
1. 120g Pastry cream
2. 40g Cream
Method
1. whisk the cream to soft peak stage
2. Soften the pastry cream by whisking it, then use a spatula to fold in the cream.
Assembly
1. Fill the baked tart with the Crème Diplomat till it reaches the top.
2. Arrange cut strawberries in desired design.
Recommended reading: Get more recipes here.
