Classic Strawberry Tart
- Pastry cream (see recipe)
- Sweet tart pastry (see recipe)
- 1 1/2 to 2 pints ripe strawberries, as uniform in size as possible
- 13 cup heavy cream
- 13 cup red currant jelly
- 1 tablespoon kirsch
- Prepare the pastry cream, and refrigerate it for at least 4 hours, until cold.
- While the pastry cream is chilling, prepare and bake the tart pastry, setting it aside, at room temperature, to cool completely.
- Sort the strawberries.
- You will need about 1 1/2 pints, or 20 ounces, to cover the tart.
- Rinse the berries, remove the hulls, then place them, cut-side down and not touching, on a layer of paper towel on a tray so they can dry completely.
- If needed, use a hair dryer on a gentle cool setting to make sure the berries are dry.
- Whip the heavy cream until stiff.
- When the pastry cream is thoroughly chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and fold in the whipped cream until completely incorporated.
- Spread this mixture over the bottom of the baked tart shell.
- Place the berries on the cream in concentric circles as close to each other as possible.
- The berries should sit on top of the cream, so don't push them down into it.
- Refrigerate the tart.
- Place the jelly and the kirsch in a small saucepan, and cook over medium heat until the jelly has melted and starts to bubble.
- Remove from the heat.
- Remove the tart from the refrigerator, and using a pastry brush, glaze the berries with the warm jelly mixture, giving them a thin but complete coating.
- Serve at once, or refrigerate -- but not more than a couple of hours, to prevent the pastry from becoming soggy -- until ready to serve.
- Remove the ring from the pan before serving.
pastry cream, sweet tart pastry, pints, heavy cream, red currant
Taken from cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/8472 (may not work)