Beautiful juicy red Strawberries are in abundance at the moment and are so delicious just served plain and simple but sometimes I love to use them to make refreshing, mouth-watering, luscious desserts and this particular one has been one of my favourites for years now, Kentish Strawberry Tart! Just so elegant, and ever so perfect for dinner parties, afternoon tea or picnics, I'm sure you will just love this!! Enjoy!!
For the pastry
115g Flour
55g ground almonds
115g butter, cut into small pieces
30g caster sugar
1 tsp almond essence
1 egg
For the filling
1 egg and 1 extra egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla essence
30g caster sugar
30g flour
300ml milk
3 tbls jam
10 sponge fingers
2 tbls Madeira
225g strawberries, sliced
300ml cream, whipped
To decorate
Strawberries, sliced or whole, I also like to use sliced blanched almonds or you could just sprinkle strawberries with icing sugar, it's up to you!
Method
To make the pastry sift the flour into a bowl, stir in the almonds, add the butter and rub in finely. Stir in the sugar, almond essence and egg and mix into a firm dough. Cover with cling-film and chill for about 30 minutes.
Knead the dough until smooth, Roll it out thinly and use to line a buttered tart dish. Chill again for 30 minutes.
In a preheated oven (200c) bake pastry case for about 15 minutes until the edges are lightly browned.
For the filling, in a bowl whisk together the egg, egg yolk, vanilla essence, sugar, and flour until well blended. Place the milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Whisking continuously, pour the milk over the egg mixture.
Return to the pan and continue whisking over a low heat until custard thickens. Allow to cool.
Spread pastry case with jam. Dip the sponge fingers into the Madeira, turning to coat well. Arrange them over the jam and cover with the strawberry slices.
Fold two thirds of the whipped cream into the custard and spread evenly over the strawberries.
Now cover the custard with the remaining cream, you can also use a piping bag and make a design of your choice. Now decorate with strawberries and if using, scatter almonds on top and sprinkle with some icing sugar.
Androulla xx
