Valentines Day Strawberry Tart

So it is Valentines Day on Sunday and I have been busy in the kitchen having a great time baking up some new valentines recipes for my blog. Pat has been my food tester and has loved every bit of tasting these new desserts.

Valentines Day is the official feast day and the celebration of love and affection. I have decided to spoil my husband this valentines day with some special desserts which I know he will love.

I just recently bought "Julia Child's - Mastering The Art of French Cooking" it is such a great book and I am loving all of her easy french recipes. I have always wanted to make a strawberry tart and her book inspired me to bake one for Valentines day. So here it is. I really hope you like this version of a strawberry tart. I was so pleased to see this recipe come together, and it tastes amazing.

Ingredients

1 roll short crust pastry

15 Strawberries

1/2 cup strawberry jam

1 tsp sugar

Creme Patissiere

(Custard Filling)

1 cup sugar

5 egg yolks

1/2 cup flour

2 cups of boiling milk

1 tbsp butter

1 1/2 tbsp vanilla essence

Method

1. Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees

2. Grease a tart dish and roll out the pastry and push down lightly into the pastry dish.

3. Place a piece of grease proof paper on top of the pastry with some uncooked rice

4. Place in the oven for 25 minutes

5. While the pastry is in the oven, heat the milk in a sauce pan over a medium heat until boiling

6. In a bowl seperate the eggs leaving the egg yolks in a bowl

7. Beat the egg yolks with a hand mixer, add in the sugar and mix till the mixture is a pale yellow colour, roughly about 2 minutes

8. Add the flour and mix in

9. Bring the bowl over to the stove and gradually pour in the boiling milk while mixing at the same time

10. Pour the mixture into a sauce pan and heat up over a medium to high heat.

11. Keep stirring the mixture with a wire whisk until the sauce comes to a boil

12. You will notice this as the sauce begins to get a bit lumpy, but this will smooth out just keep on whisking, turn down the heat and mix for about 2 minutes to make sure the flour is cooked.

13. Let the custard filling cool down and set to the side

14. Take out the pastry once done, remove from the pastry dish and set aside to cool on a drying rack

15. In a small sauce pan add the strawberry jam and the sugar and heat up for about 2 minutes

16. With a basting brush, piant the inside of the pastry.

17. Pour in the custard filling make sure you spread evenly inside the pastry

18. Slice the strawberries in half and assemble them on top of the custard filling.

19. Then with the basting brush, paint over each strawberry with the strawberry jelly

20.. Voila - enjoy as a dessert or with afternoon tea.