Strawberry and Pistachio Tart
Easy recipe for a French strawberry and pistachio tart with lush pistachio pastry cream. Recipe adapted from my 2nd book, Teatime in Paris (2015).
Equipment
- 24cm (9 inch) non-stick tart tin/ring or 8 individual tartlet tins/rings
Ingredients
Classic Sweet Pastry (see recipe below)
Pistachio Pastry Cream
- 400 ml (14fl oz/1 ⅔ cup) whole milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla powder or extract
- 5 egg yolks organic
- 60 g (2.5oz/¼ cup) sugar
- 2 tablespoon cornflour/cornstarch
- 1-2 tablespoon pistachio paste See recipe link in NOTES
- 30 g (2 tbsp) single or heavy cream (crème fleurette in France)
Garnish
- 1 punnet fresh strawberries hulled, halved or sliced
Instructions
Sweet Pastry Base (see recipe card below)
- Prepare the pastry bases using the recipe below. Blind bake for 25-30 minutes and leave to cool.
Pistachio Pastry Cream Filling
- Heat the milk with the vanilla in a saucepan.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the yolks with the sugar until light and creamy. Whisk in the cornflour and pistachio paste until smooth. Gradually pour on the hot milk, constantly whisking. Transfer back to the saucepan, whisking continuously over a medium heat until thickened.
- Take off the heat and leave to cool. Place cling film directly on to the pastry cream, to avoid a film forming on top. Once cool, chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
- Once chilled, remove the film and whisk again with a little cream until perfectly smooth.
Assembly
- Transfer to a piping bag with a plain tip and pipe in a spiral on to the pastry for a professional look (or just spoon it in). Top with whole or sliced strawberries.
Notes
Tart Crust: follow my step-by-step recipe for French pâte sucrée (or sweet pastry). Using tart rings, makes one large 24cm/9 inch tart or 2 x 16cm/6 inches + 3 tartlets. However, it's just as easy to buy ready-made sweet tart bases (although homemade is best!)
Pistachio Pastry Cream - if using bought pistachio paste, you may need to use less. Ensure it is natural made with pistachios with no additives, colourings, aromas or oils, otherwise make your own homemade pistachio paste.
Milk - I prefer the consistency of regular whole dairy milk but unsweetened almond or coconut milk also work well. If yours is slightly more watery, add a little more cornstarch.
Measurements - As in my pastry and macaron books, I highly recommend using the measures in grams & ml (instead of cups) for more accuracy and better, consistent results