Crostata di Fragole con Crema Pasticcera e Chantilly {Strawberry Tart}

Posted on Friday, 17th June 2011 by Grace

I’ve made this Crostata di Fragole con Crema Pasticcera e Chantilly {Strawberry Tart with Pastry Cream lightened with freshly Whipped Cream} twice in the last two days. It’s quite unfortunate that I’ve not been able to enjoy a slice of the assembled Crostata.

My misfortune began Wednesday afternoon. The day started quietly but by noon the house could be compared to Grand Central Station during rush hour. The telephone wouldn’t stop ringing and my afternoon appointment was late. Within minutes of her arrival I also had an unexpected guest (Mom) arrive, the pharmacy delivery man arrived, a package was delivered (the doorbell ringing started to drive me mad because both dogs were barking incessantly) and Liana returned home with strawberries that were less than perfect (out you go to get me beautiful, fresh strawberries please!).

Why did I decide to blind bake my pastry shell through this chaos? It’s a question I’ve asked myself more than once over the last couple of days because it’s set off a comedy of errors.

Of course I forgot to line my shell with baking paper and fill it with weights – I’m sure you can imagine what my tart shell looked like and if you can’t – just picture a pizza crust – flat and did I mention my beautiful sides? – All gone!

I set out to remake my pastry dough, measured all my ingredients and popped them into the freezer to chill. Coffee with Mom and an Amaretti tutorial later my ingredients were beautifully chilled and ready to be transformed into smooth Pasta Frolla (short sweet pastry). Pop the Amaretti cookie dough in the fridge and it’s time to begin my pastry shell process all over again. Process, roll, and press – back to the freezer to chill.

Fast forward to Wednesday evening, pastry shell is cooling; it’s time to prepare the glaze. And it’s finally time to assemble my Crostata (I was starting to think I would never get to this point). The house is quiet, I pour myself a glass of wine (to calm my nerves from the hectic day), load the current MasterChef Australia episode and I begin to coat the bottom of the tart with the tastiest Apricot Glaze that I spiked with Grand Marnier.

I’m thoroughly enjoying my glass of wine, watching MasterChef as my glaze is setting and then it’s time to layer the Crostata with Crema Pasticcera (Italian pastry cream). When I get to this step I’m usually praying I have enough to fill the tart because I have a bad habit of stealing a spoon here and there (resisting the urge to eat the whole bowl, it’s so creamy, is very difficult for me!). Thankfully it’s just enough.

I am such a perfectionist that it takes me quite a while to slice and arrange the strawberries but it’s now time to glaze. Glazing is done, and then it immediately dawns on me that I forgot to place the pastry shell on my cake stand before I started to assemble the crostata. Instantly enveloped with fear, I attempted to carefully transfer the crostata to the cake stand. But I knew deep inside this wasn’t going to be good, I just knew that crostata wasn’t going to make it to the stand in one piece. Guess what? It didn’t! The tears started rolling, arms up in the air and I remember thinking “Why me?”

Here we go again, measure ingredients; back to the freezer to chill. Thursday morning I begin the pastry shell process all over again – pastry shell day two – a success. Thursday evening – time to assemble crostata once again. But this time I transfer the pastry shell to the cake stand before I begin assembling. Assembling crostata – day two – success. Take a few photos and then I decide to place the crostata in the freezer to chill for a few minutes to ensure a perfectly cut slice for photographing.

Very carefully I set out to take the assembled tart to the freezer. I wasn’t taking any chances so I asked Liana to open the door for me and to also open the freezer door. Of course as luck would have it I needed to move a few things to make room for the crostata. Liana said, “Mom I’ll hold the tart while you make room”. And then the unthinkable happened, again! The crostata went flying! And that’s not all that went flying; a few choice words did too. Water works – day two. Can you believe it?

You know that feeling you get inside when you go out for dinner and you spot a scrumptious treat on the dessert menu and you almost race through your meal because you can’t wait to dive into that delicious dessert? That’s the feeling I had when preparing this crostata, only I’ve been anticipating this dessert since preparing it for my niece’s bridal shower on Sunday.

Crispy hazelnut pastry, creamy, flavourful vanilla crema pasticcera, juicy, sweet strawberries topped with an amazing apricot glaze with hints of orange – oh how I wanted to indulge in a slice or two.

Crostata di Fragole con Crema Pasticcera e Chantilly – day three – coming up!

Crostata di Fragole con Crema Pasticcera e Chantilly {Strawberry Tart with lightened Pastry Cream}

Makes 1 28-cm (11-inch) tart

Pasta Frolla alle Nocciole {Sweet Short Pastry with Hazelnuts}
Crema Pasticcera e Chantilly {Pastry Cream lightened with Freshly Whipped Cream}
Glassa alla Marmellata con Grand Marnier {Grand Marnier-Apricot Glaze}
Fresh Strawberries

Pasta Frolla alle Nocciole {Sweet Short Pastry with Hazelnuts}

**Special note - Measure all ingredients and chill in the freezer until nice and cold for about one hour, preferably overnight, before preparing pastry.

250 g (2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
50 g (½ cup) toasted hazelnuts, finely ground
80 g (1/3 cup + 1 teaspoon) caster (superfine granules) sugar
Pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
140 g (½ cup + 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten with a fork
1 to 2 tablespoons ice water (may not be required)

Place first 5 ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Process to combine ingredients.
Add the cold butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumb.
With the processor running, pour egg mixture in a slow steady stream through the feed tube. Process until dough comes together but no longer than 30 seconds. Test pastry dough by squeezing a small amount of dough together with your fingertips. If you find dough crumbly, add the ice water, 1-tablespoon at-a-time.
Transfer pasta frolla to a clean, lightly dusted with flour, work surface.
Gently and quickly knead the pasta frolla until smooth. Split the dough into two pieces. You will need a little more than half of the pasta frolla to line a 28-cm (11-inch) tart. Refrigerate the remaining pasta frolla for another use or freeze up to 1 month.
Roll out the pasta frolla to a 36-cm (14-inch) circle, .33-cm (1/8-inch) thick.
Fit the pasta frolla into the tart dish; trim off any excess with a sharp paring knife. Using a fork, prick the bottom of the pastry shell.
Transfer pastry-lined dish to a baking sheet; cover and freeze pastry shell until firm, about 30 minutes (to prevent shrinkage).
Preheat oven to 190° C (375° F).
Line pastry shell with non-stick baking paper (in the shape of a circle) and fill with pie weights (ceramic pie weights, beans or rice) (making sure weights extend up the sides to the top of the tart dish). Blind bake for 20 minutes. Transfer tart dish to a wire rack; remove weights and baking paper and then return to oven to bake until lightly golden, 5 to 10 minutes.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before filling.

Crema Pasticcera e Chantilly {Pastry Cream lightened with Freshly Whipped Cream}

237 ml (8 ounces or 1 cup) whole milk
237 ml (8 ounces or 1 cup) heavy cream, 35%
1 vanilla bean, split, seeded
6 large egg yolks
113 g (½-cup) caster sugar
39 g (5 tablespoons) plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
237 ml (8 ounces or 1 cup) heavy cream, 35%, whipped to soft peak

In a small saucepan bring milk, cream and vanilla bean with seeds just to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat, cover and let steep for 10 to 12 minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add flour and continue to whisk until smooth.
Remove the vanilla bean from the hot milk-cream mixture. Gradually pour, in a steady stream, the milk-cream mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly until well combined and smooth (no lumps).
Return mixture to saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring mixture to a boil, whisking constantly, and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Strain crema pasticcera through a fine mesh sieve into a small bowl. Place a sheet of plastic wrap directly on top of crema pasticcera to prevent a skin from forming as it cools.
If not using crema pasticcera immediately refrigerate until ready to use. (Bring to room temperature and whisk to return to a creamy consistency before folding in the whipped cream.)
Once cooled and when ready to assemble tart, using a large, flexible spatula gently fold one-third of whipped cream into the crema pasticcera. Gently fold in remaining whipped cream, set-aside until ready to assemble tart.

Glassa alla Marmellata con Grand Marnier {Grand Marnier-Apricot Glaze}

118 ml (4 ounces or ½ cup) pure apricot jam
15 ml (½ ounce or 1 tablespoon) orange marmalade
30 ml (1 ounce or 2 tablespoons) water
15 ml (½ ounce or 1 tablespoon) Grand Marnier

In a small saucepan, heat apricot jam, orange marmalade and water over medium heat until melted.
Strain preserve mixture through a fine sieve into a small bowl, discard any solids (making sure to scrape pulp on the underside of the sieve).
Stir in the Grand Marnier, set-aside.

Assembling Crostata di Fragole con Crema Pasticcera e Chantilly {Strawberry Tart with lightened Pastry Cream}

Fresh Strawberries, 450 – 700 g (2 to 3 cups)

Place pastry shell on serving dish or cake stand.
Using a large pastry brush, coat bottom of pastry shell with a thin layer of apricot glaze. Set-aside to set for 15 minutes.
Fill pastry shell with crema pasticcera (pastry cream). Using an offset spatula spread pastry cream evenly to edges of shell.
Arrange fresh strawberries in pattern of choice.
Reheat apricot glaze. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat strawberries with glaze.
If not serving immediately refrigerate until ready to serve. If refrigerated, remove tart from the refrigerator 20 to 30 minutes before serving, allowing tart to come to room temperature.

Tags: after school treat, afternoon tea, cake, cakes, crema pasticcera, creme pastissiere, crostata, dessert, desserts, food, food photography, food photos, fruit, fruit desserts, fruit tarts, Italian desserts, pastry, pastry dough, shortcrust pastry, Summer desserts, sweet pastry, tarts
Posted in Baking & Pastry, Baking Mise en Place, Custards, Creams & Mousses, Fillings, Frostings & Dessert Sauces, Pastry Doughs & Batter, Recipes

Comments (15)

15 Responses to “Crostata di Fragole con Crema Pasticcera e Chantilly {Strawberry Tart}”

Says:
June 17th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
these are beautiful! Reminds me of the strawberry cream cheese tart that I ate for dessert last night! sooooo tasty!
Says:
June 17th, 2011 at 2:44 pm
Oh my goodness! You poor thing, what a nightmare! I hope you get to enjoy a slice of your third tart because it looks absolutely beautiful and I’m sure it tastes just as good!
Grace Says:
June 17th, 2011 at 2:49 pm
Kathryn I am going to make sure I do, if I have to secure to the dish I will.
Grace Says:
June 17th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
Paula I am so jealous!!! Your tart looks amazing, loving the ganache layer.
Says:
June 17th, 2011 at 3:50 pm
Oh my, I can’t believe you had to make this three times! I probably would have eaten the broken tart off the floor to console myself. The finished product looks amazing, though!
Julia Says:
June 17th, 2011 at 4:05 pm
Wow, looks great! I know what’s going to be cooking in my kitchen this weekend! I’m so glad your dessert finally turned out right, you poor thing! Fantastic photography, by the way!
Grace Says:
June 17th, 2011 at 5:03 pm
Lauren believe me when I say I almost did just that, can you believe it? I’ve had such bad luck in the last month with cakes. My luck better turn soon.
Says:
June 17th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
What a beautiful dessert! Perfect now that strawberries are in season!
Says:
June 17th, 2011 at 8:37 pm
I love strawberries so I’d have to buy double the amount to make something like this or they’d never make it to the finished dessert! Looks fantastic.
Says:
June 18th, 2011 at 12:36 am
The Strawberry Tart look incredible. The photo is so crisp, it’s almost like it’s on my table.
Says:
June 18th, 2011 at 3:14 am
Wow making this sounds like it was quite the ordeal, but you persevered! It is absolutely stunning, and the perfect way to enjoy perfect berries.
Says:
June 18th, 2011 at 10:21 am
Yet another amazing cake
Says:
June 18th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
Grace this is such a gorgeous presentation. I love all of those fresh strawberries
Says:
June 18th, 2011 at 12:43 pm
This is one of the first desserts I’ve learnt to make as a teenager! Your crostata is so beautiful! I’m glad you kept going despite the messy days!
Says:
June 18th, 2011 at 11:10 pm
Oh Grace, I can only imagine, another flying dessert! I think you need to bootstrap your masterpieces to the cakeplates! Despite all the mishaps, your final product, this beautiful Strawberry Tart, is stunning!