This Tarte aux Fraises features a cookie crust filled with luscious vanilla pastry cream topped with fresh strawberries. A classic French dessert perfect for strawberry season!
One of the best things I made in pastry school was Tarte aux Fraises. The glistening, jewel-like strawberries! The rich, thick pastry cream! And a snappy crust that was just the right level of sweet. To be honest, it takes a little bit of technique to get right. But the results are so worth it.
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Why You'll Love This Strawberry Tart Recipe
- This showstopper French dessert will be the highlight of any party.
- The combination of cookie crust plus custard plus ripe strawberries is truly next-level.
- Most of the work can be done in advance, leaving just the assembly for the day you want to serve this.
Strawberry Tart Ingredients
- Sturdy Tart Crust: For this recipe, you need a tart crust strong enough to hold up well to desserts with unbaked fillings. Use a premade pie/tart crust or your preferred tart crust recipe like this recipe for Pâte Sucrée.
- Pastry Cream: This classic custard is made with egg yolks, milk, sugar, and cornstarch. Replace with store-bought if you want to make this a super-easy recipe!
- Strawberries: Fresh, in-season strawberries are the way to go here since they really shine in this recipe. Replace with other seasonal berries or fruit if it’s not strawberry season—using frozen strawberries is not recommended.
- Jam: Apricot jam is the classic French jam used to glaze fruit tarts, but I love strawberry jam with this tart.
How To Make A Strawberry Tart
- Have your prepared tart crust ready to go, either store-bought or homemade like this Pâte Sucrée crust. Next, make the pastry cream filling. (For more photos, Expert Tips and FAQs, see the full recipe post: Vanilla Pastry Cream.)
- Use a small paring knife to slit open half of a vanilla bean. Open the bean and press flat with your knife, scraping the vanilla bean seeds onto your knife edge. Add to 3 tablespoons sugar, and use your fingers to break up the seeds and combine with the sugar.
3. Put the vanilla sugar, empty vanilla bean pod, and 1 cup milk into a saucepan. Heat over medium, whisking to dissolve the sugar.
4. Meanwhile, put 4 egg yolks in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and set to medium speed. Slowly add 3 tablespoons sugar, then whip together on high speed. Scrape down the mixer bowl as needed. When egg mixture gets to ribbon stage and lightens (about 3-4 minutes), stop whipping.
5. Meanwhile, whisk 2 tablespoons cornstarch into ⅓ cup of milk until smooth. Set aside.
6. When milk in the saucepan has just come to a low boil, add the cold milk mixture to the stand mixer and combine on low. Once it is well combined, slowly pour in the hot milk with mixer on low.
7. As soon as it is incorporated, turn off mixer and pour the entire mixture back into your saucepan.
8. Over low heat, stir with a whisk constantly until mixture comes to a boil again and starts to thicken (about 2 minutes). Then whisk for another 2 minutes over low heat to make sure any raw taste from the cornstarch is gone. Whisk aggressively if it looks like the mixture isn’t coming together smoothly.
9. Whisk in 1 teaspoon butter, then turn off the heat. Remove the vanilla bean.
10. Scrape pastry cream into a bowl and press plastic wrap directly over the top. Let it cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate until cold.
11. Once the tart shell and pastry cream are fully cold, you can proceed to assemble the tart. Remove the outer ring from the tart pan and put the pâte sucrée tart shell on a serving dish or cake stand.
(Up to you whether you want to slide it off the bottom entirely. If so, just be careful not to break the crust as you are moving it or filling it.)
12. Whisk the pastry cream in a bowl until it is smooth with no lumps. Then spread the pastry cream evenly over the base of the tart crust. An offset spatula is the perfect tool for this.
13. Cut off the top of each strawberry and slice each into 3 or 4 thin vertical slices. Begin to lay them on top of the pastry cream, overlapping them in the same direction, starting from the outside circle and moving inward.
14. When tart is completely covered with strawberry slices, combine 2 tablespoons strawberry jam with a tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Microwave for about 5-10 seconds, until the jam is a little melted and smooth. Use a pastry brush to brush the jam over the top of the strawberry slices, making them shiny.
15. Chill until ready to serve. Serve Tarte aux Fraises the day it is assembled.
French Tart Recipe FAQs
I don't recommend refrigerating this tart for more than a few hours, as the ripe strawberries will start to weep into the custard, and the custard can begin to soften the crust.
However, you can bake the tart crust up to 2 days before, and keep it wrapped in plastic wrap or foil at room temperature. You can also make the pastry cream up to 3 days before and keep it refrigerated in an airtight container.
In addition, you can make the tart dough itself well in advance and freeze it for up to 3 months.
A pâte sucrée crust is perfect for this recipe because the combination of that sweet cookie crust next to the custard and fresh strawberries is so delicious. But you can also make this recipe with a pâte sablée dough.
Or, make life easy on yourself and choose a premade crust at the grocery store. You can use a traditional pie crust as well—just make sure that you serve your strawberry tart not long after making it. Traditional pie crusts can soften fairly quickly once the custard is on top.
How To Store A French Tart
This tart does not store well. For best results, eat it the day you assemble it. You can refrigerate leftovers, but as noted above, the strawberries will begin to soften and leak into the custard. It will still be delicious for 1-2 days after making it, but it won’t look as pretty.
Strawberry Tart Recipe Tips
Please note that this is a hard tart to cut smoothly. Use a large sharp knife that will easily slice through the strawberries and down through the crust. I promise that even if the crust breaks as you are slicing it, no one will mind, since the taste is absolutely delicious!
If perfect-looking servings are your goal, I recommend making mini strawberry tartlets instead. Use mini tart pans rather than the large one, and proceed from there. That way there is no slicing required!
Make sure to not heat your jam up too much in the microwave. Just let it cool down if it gets too hot—you don’t want to brush piping hot jam onto fresh strawberries. If your jam is particularly chunky, you can also pass it through a fine-mesh sieve before brushing on.
Are your strawberries small? If so, you can choose to leave them whole. Just slice the tops off, then arrange upside down on top of the pastry cream. You can also combine strawberries with other berries or fruit such as blueberries, raspberries, mango, or kiwi. Combining strawberries and blueberries can be lovely for a July 4th celebration.
Want another delicious fruit tart idea? Why not try this Blueberry Panna Cotta Tart next?
Got extra fresh strawberries? Turn them into a Strawberry Coulis or Strawberry Simple Syrup. Or try this easy Strawberry Mascarpone Parfait.
Other French Baking Recipes
Love this classic French dessert? How about checking out some of my other favorites like this classic Crème Brûlée, these Palmiers, or one of these:
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear from you! Please rate this recipe and leave a comment below—your feedback is invaluable to me.
And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I’d love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
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Tarte aux Fraises
Ingredients
For the Pastry Cream
- ½ vanilla bean
- 6 tablespoons sugar divided
- 1 ⅓ cups milk divided (330 ml total)
- 4 egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon butter
For the Assembly
- 9-inch baked pâte sucrée or pâte sablee tart crust (or pie crust)
- 1 pint strawberries
- 2 tablespoons strawberry or apricot jam
Instructions
- Start by making the pastry cream filling. Use a small paring knife to slit open the vanilla bean half.
- Open the bean and press flat with your knife, scraping the vanilla bean seeds onto your knife edge.
- Add to 3 tablespoons sugar, and use your fingers to break up the seeds and combine with the sugar.
- Put the vanilla sugar, empty vanilla bean pod, and 1 cup milk into a saucepan. Heat over medium, whisking to dissolve the sugar.
- Meanwhile, put egg yolks in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and set to medium speed.
- Slowly add 3 tablespoons sugar, then whip together on high speed. Scrape down the mixer bowl as needed.
- When egg mixture gets to ribbon stage and lightens (about 3-4 minutes), stop whipping.
- Meanwhile, whisk cornstarch into the remaining ⅓ cup of milk until smooth. Set aside.
- When milk in the saucepan has just come to a low boil (watch carefully), add the cold milk mixture to the stand mixer and combine on low.
- Once it is well combined, slowly pour in the hot milk with mixer on low.
- As soon as it is incorporated, turn off mixer and pour the entire mixture back into your saucepan.
- Over low heat, stir with a whisk constantly until mixture comes to a boil again and starts to thicken (about 2 minutes).
- Then whisk for another 2 minutes over low heat to make sure any raw taste from the cornstarch is gone. Whisk aggressively if it looks like the mixture isn’t coming together smoothly.
- Whisk in butter, then turn off the heat. Remove the vanilla bean.
- Scrape pastry cream into a bowl and press plastic wrap directly over the top.
- Let cool, then put in the refrigerator to chill until cold.
- Now you can start to assemble the tart. Remove the outer ring from the tart pan and put the pâte sucrée tart shell on a serving dish or cake stand. (Up to you whether you want to slide it off the bottom entirely. If so, just be careful not to break the crust as you are moving it or filling it.)
- Whisk the pastry cream in a bowl until it is smooth with no lumps.
- Spread the pastry cream evenly over the base of the tart crust. An offset spatula is the perfect tool for this.
- Cut off the top of each strawberry and slice each into 3 or 4 thin vertical slices.
- Begin to lay them on top of the pastry cream, overlapping them in the same direction, starting from the outside circle and moving inward.
- When tart is completely covered with strawberry slices, combine 2 tablespoons strawberry or apricot jam with a tablespoon of water in a small bowl.
- Microwave for about 10 seconds, until the jam is a little melted and smooth.
- Use a pastry brush to brush the jam over the top of the strawberry slices, making them shiny.
- Chill until ready to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I’d love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Jean says
pls can you tell me what I must do if using bought custard. how do I thicken it and how to I get that vanilla flavour in pls. this tart looks so delicious 😋
Molly Pisula says
Hi Jean, I've never used store-bought custard before, so I'm a little unsure. But my best guess would be to put it over low heat on the stove and add in a little vanilla extract or the seeds from a scraped-out vanilla bean. To thicken, try dissolving a tablespoon of cornstarch in a tablespoon of water and then stirring that into the custard. Let it cook for a couple of minutes while you are stirring.
Grace says
Instructions were clear and made a beautiful tart that was even prettier with some edible gold flecks. My only problem is that the tarte completely fell apart/melted after only an hour after taking it out of the fridge. If you make this recipe - be warned to serve immediately out of the fridge!