Strawberry tartlets

These pretty little bites are a tasty combination of strawberry, cream, crisp pastry and a sweet berry glaze. A delicious mix.

Prep Time50

Cook Time40

Total Time1 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Scottish

Servings: approx

Calories: 221kcal

Author: Caroline

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Ingredients

For the pastry

1 ½ cups all purpose flour plain flour
2 tablespoon sugar
1 pinch salt
7 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoon cold water or a little more as needed

For the strawberry glaze

1 ½ cups strawberries hulled and roughly chopped
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch corn flour
3 tablespoon water

For rest of tartlets

12 strawberries large
¾ cup heavy cream

Instructions

To make pastry

First, make the pastry by mixing the flour, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse until you get a fine breadcrumb texture. Add the water gradually and pulse so that the dough comes together in larger crumbs/clumps - if it doesn't come together a bit after a few pulses, you may want to add a little more water but try not to add too much. It only needs to be starting to clump, it will then press together fine.
Bring the dough together into a ball with your hands, flatten it, and wrap in plastic wrap/cling film or in a freezer bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes - this helps to avoid the pastry shrinking when you bake it.

To make strawberry glaze

While the pastry is cooling, make the strawberry glaze. Place the chopped strawberries and sugar in a small-medium pot/pan. Mix the corn starch/corn flour with part of the water to make a slurry and add this in with the strawberries. Add the rest of the water then warm everything over a medium heat to bring it to a simmer, stirring now and then.
Mash the berries as needed to break them up as you simmer the sauce. Reduce heat as needed and simmer for around 20 minutes so that it thickens well. Remove from heat and strain the mixture through a fine strainer/sieve to remove strawberry seeds and any remaining larger solids. Let the glaze cool.

To form and bake pastry bases

Roll out the pastry to around ⅛in/2-3mm thick and cut circles of pastry larger than your moulds so that the pastry fills the mould when pressed in to the base and sides, and hangs over the top edges very slightly. Repeat with rest of pastry and moulds then prick the pastry all over. Chill the pastry cases around 15 - 20 minutes and meanwhile preheat the oven.
Preheat the oven to 375F/190C. As it's ready, line the pastry with mini cupcake liners and add baking beans (or eg dry rice/beans to weigh down - note you won't be able to eat them after baking but can use for same purpose again).
Blind bake the pastry for 15 minutes until starting to dry around the edges, then remove the liners and baking beans, and return to bake another 5 minutes until gently golden and crisp. Let the pastry cool a few minutes before removing from the moulds to cool completely.
Up to this point can be prepared ahead - you can store the pastry cases at room temperature, in a sealed container, and the glaze in the fridge. If needed, gently warm the glaze when ready to use to make it easier to spread/drizzle and if still too thick, add a drop or two water.

To assemble tartlets

Hull the strawberries and wash and dry them - they should not be wet or the glaze will not hold properly. Place the cream in a wide bowl and whip until it forms firm peaks. Note if you like, you can add a few drops of vanilla and/or a spoonful of confectioners sugar (icing sugar) to flavor and sweeten the cream though it's not strictly needed.
Add a spoonful of the whipped cream in the bottom of each pastry base to fill it around ¾ full. If you prefer, you can pipe it in to fill. Place a strawberry on top of the cream, the hulled side down and gently press into the cream. Then drizzle over some of the strawberry glaze so that you have a layer all over the strawberry and slightly dripping into the cream. You want enough so the strawberry is fully covered, but not so much it looks thick (you should still be able to make out the strawberry seeds) or is running over the pastry.

Video

Notes

I used these egg tart moulds for this that are 2.6in (6.6cm) diameter at top and 0.9in (2.3cm) deep. You could also use shallow muffin pans and just don't fill them fully with the pastry. If using any mould that is straight rather than fluted as mine are, I'd suggest using a scalloped/wavy cutter to give a prettier edge, or else use a fork to press lines into the top edge.

You may get slightly more or less tarts depending on what mould you use - if more, you will need a few more strawberries to top them but you should have plenty glaze (it makes a bit more than needed). If the pastry bases are slightly wider, you may need extra cream to fill them, but it will depend on depth.

You will likely have additional strawberry glaze, but it's great used for other things eg as a topping for ice cream, pancakes and French toast, or use as a jam.

I usually leave the whipped cream plain, but if you prefer you can gently sweeten it with confectioners sugar (icing sugar) - I'd suggest around 1tbsp for this volume - and add a few drops of vanilla extract.

Nutrition

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