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strawberry tarts close up

Strawberry tarts with vanilla pastry cream

These individual strawberry tarts are made with crisp sweet tart pastry, silky vanilla pastry cream (crème pâtissière), and glossy fresh strawberries for the ultimate patisserie‑style dessert. Perfect as mini strawberry tartlets for spring and summer entertaining, afternoon tea, parties, or using up pick‑your‑own strawberries. An easy, elegant strawberry dessert idea that looks impressive but uses simple ingredients.
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Course: afternoon tea, cake, Dessert
Cuisine: French
Keyword: elegant, individual
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 8
Author: Steve

Equipment

Ingredients

Pastry

  • 170 grams all purpose flour
  • 75 grams cold cubed butter
  • 45 grams icing sugar
  • 1 egg
  • pinch salt

Vanilla pastry cream (creme patissiere)

  • 4 egg yolks
  • 70 grams caster sugar
  • 15 grams corn flour
  • 15 grams all purpose flour
  • 380 ml whole milk (full fat)
  • 1 Vanilla pod

Topping

  • 1 Punnet Strawberries
  • 2 tablespoon apricot jam

Instructions

Make the pastry

  • Sift the flour, icing sugar and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Add the cold, cubed butter and rub it in with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs
    mixing in the butter with my hands
  • Lightly whisk the egg, pour them into the bowl and bring the dough together with a fork, then your hands. Shape into a disc, wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
    sweet pasty dough

Blind bake the pastry cases

  • Lightly oil and flour the individual tart cases. Roll out the chilled pastry and line the tins, leaving some overhang to allow for shrinkage. Prick the base with a fork and chill again for 30 minutes.
    lined pastry cases
  • Blind bake - Line the pastry with foil and fill with baking beans or rice. Bake at 190°C for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and beans, then bake for a further 7–10 minutes until dry but not browned
    baked pastry cases
  • Trim the edges - Using a sharp knife (a bread knife works well), carefully trim the overhanging pastry for a neat finish
    trimmed pastry cases

Make the vanilla pastry cream

  • Heat the milk - Pour the milk into a saucepan and set it over medium heat, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t catch on the bottom. Split the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds. Add both the seeds and the empty pod to the milk. Heat until the milk is just below boiling.
    vanilla infused milk
  • Whisk the egg mixture - In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the flour and cornflour, whisking until smooth
    whisked egg mixture
  • Temper the eggs - Let the hot milk cool for about 30 seconds. Using a ladle, slowly pour about half of the hot vanilla milk into the egg mixture, whisking vigorously the whole time to prevent scrambling. Do this little by little.
    adding hot milk to eggs
  • Combine and cook - Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk. Remove the vanilla pods and discard. Place the pan back over medium‑high heat and whisk continuously. As it approaches boiling, the mixture will thicken. Cook for 1–2 minutes until smooth, glossy and custard‑thick.
    finished pastry cream
  • Cool the pastry cream - Transfer the pastry cream to a clean bowl. Press cling film directly onto the surface to prevent a skin forming. Cool as quickly as possible - placing the bowl into a larger bowl of ice‑cold water works well.
    cooling pastry cream

Assemble the tarts

  • Loosen if needed - Once fully cooled, if the pastry cream has thickened too much, whisk in a splash of milk to loosen it back to a silky consistency.
    loosen pastry cream
  • Fill the tart cases - Spoon or pipe the pastry cream into the baked tart shells.
    filling pastry cases with pastry cream
  • Add the strawberries - Slice the strawberries and arrange them neatly on top of the pastry cream.
    add strawberries to pastry cream
  • Glaze - Warm the apricot jam in the microwave until liquid, then let it cool slightly. Using a pastry brush, gently glaze the strawberries for a beautiful shine.
    glazing strawberries

Notes

• Use ripe, sweet strawberries for the best flavour and colour - under ripe berries won’t glaze as well.
• Make sure the pastry cream is fully cooled before filling the tart cases to keep the pastry crisp.
• Pressing cling film directly onto the surface of the crème pâtissière prevents a skin forming.
• If the pastry cream thickens in the fridge, loosen with a splash of milk and whisk until smooth.
• Warm the apricot jam gently, it should be liquid but not hot for a glossy, even glaze.
• Assemble the tarts just before serving to keep the pastry crisp and the strawberries fresh.