Wild Strawberries Mini-Tarts

Few weeks ago, my cousin came home early in the morning. He told me he was taking me to this secret place where he wanted to show me something that he knew I would appreciate.

My cousin got my little basket. We got on our shoes and head to the forest. After walking among the trees (chestnuts and eucalyptus) for a while, we arrived to an open area. In the ground there were these familiar leaves and these tiny red drops.

I got so excited to see myself surrounded by wild strawberries!!!! Back home with my little basket full of wild strawberries, I prepared a simple pate sucree and pastry cream, so my wild strawberries would be the “stars of the show”.

I hope you like the recipe and the new makeover of the blog!!

Pate sucree

Ingredients

Makes one 30 -32 cm (11-12 inch) or two 20 – 22 cm ( 8 to 9 inch) .

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 cup (250 gr) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces

2 large egg yolks

1/4 cup ice water

Directions

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour and sugar. Add butter, and process 10 to 20 seconds.

In a small bowl, lightly beat egg yolks; add ice water. With machine running, add the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube. Pulse until dough holds together without being wet or sticky; be careful not to process more than 30 seconds. To test, squeeze a small amount together: If it is crumbly, add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Divide dough into two equal balls. Flatten each ball into a disk, and wrap in plastic. Chill in a refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Pastry cream

Ingredients

Makes about 1 3/4 cups

1 cup whole milk

1/2 vanilla bean, split

5 tablespoons sugar

3 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon flour (preferably rice flour for lightness)

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Directions

Place milk, vanilla bean, and 1/4 cup sugar in a medium saucepan over high heat; cook until almost boiling.

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar until thickened. Sprinkle in cornstarch and flour and continue beating until well combined.

Remove vanilla bean from milk. While whisking constantly, slowly pour heated-milk mixture into egg-yolk mixture. Pour mixture through a fine sieve back into saucepan, and cook, whisking constantly, over medium-high heat, until it thickens about 2 minutes.

Transfer to a large bowl and whisk in butter until melted. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly on the surface of the pastry cream; refrigerate until completely cooled.