Rustic Strawberry Tart

Cover Recipe of Woman’s Day, June 2009
Rustic Strawberry Tart
Strawberries have been very inexpensive lately.  I find myself picking up at least a couple of baskets a week, mostly picking off the stems and eating on their own but they’re fun to use for desserts too.  This recipe is from a Woman’s Day cover from last June, which features fresh dessert recipes for strawberry season.  A beautiful, rustic tart is on the cover, and is part of a piece boasting “Easy-to-make desserts bursting with fresh-picked flavor.”  Since rustic tarts are so easy to make, and are generally a nice way to showcase fresh fruit, I decided to give this recipe a shot.  See my notes below to see how it turned out.

Rustic Strawberry Tart
Source:  Woman’s Day, June 2009

ingredients:
Pastry Dough-
1 stick (1⁄2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp confectioners’ sugar
1⁄4 tsp salt
3 to 4 Tbsp ice water

Filling:
1 1⁄2 lb strawberries, hulled
1⁄4 cup plus 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 1⁄2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1⁄8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Glaze:
2 Tbsp red currant jelly plus 1 tsp water, whisked smooth

instructions:
1. Pastry: Place butter pieces in freezer 20 minutes or until semi-frozen. In food processor, pulse flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt until blended. Add frozen butter; pulse about 15 times or until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.  Sprinkle 3 Tbsp water over mixture and pulse until dough just comes together. Remove from food processor; with floured hands, gather into a ball, flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
2. Flour a sheet of parchment paper; roll out dough into a 12-in. round. Slide dough on parchment onto a baking sheet;  refrigerate while preparing filling. Heat oven to 375°F.
3. Filling: Halve 1⁄2 lb of the berries (choose ones similar in size) and reserve. Quarter the remaining 1 lb strawberries lengthwise. In a medium bowl, toss 1⁄4 cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest and nutmeg until blended; add quartered berries and butter, and toss to coat. Remove dough from refrigerator. Pile berry mixture in an even mound in center of dough within 2 in. of dough edge. Gently lift the unfilled dough edge up and onto the filling. Brush dough with egg; sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbsp sugar.
4. Bake 40 minutes, or until crust is golden and filling is juicy. Remove from oven; slide parchment onto a cooling rack. Let cool 15 minutes. Arrange remaining halved strawberries cut side down on top of cooked filling. Lightly brush berries with red currant glaze. Cool completely.

Serves 8

Nutritional Information:  calories 275, protein 3g, carbohydrates 36g, fiber 2g, fat 14g (8g sat fat), cholesterol 60mg, sodium 84mg

Notes from Culinary Covers:
*The dough for the tart was very simple to make, especially in the food processor.  It rolled out well, and it was easy to work with.
*I’ve made strawberry tarts before, and I seem to remember that when strawberries are cooked… they give off a lot of liquid, leaving the tart rather soupy.  I always sprinkle a few shortbread (or graham cracker) crumbs underneath the filling so there is something there to soak up the liquid.  This recipe didn’t call for anything like that. 
*This recipe called for 2 teaspoons of butter in the filling.  It absolutely doesn’t need any butter.  Initially all looked fine when the tart was taken out of the oven, but given a chance to cool, the butter congealed between the fresh strawberries that were placed on top.  Yuck.  The filling would be just fine without butter.
*I didn’t have red currant jelly and didn’t want to buy a jar just for this recipe, so I used strawberry jam instead.  It served the same purpose.
*I cut a piece from the tart to give it the taste test, and then I ended up tossing away the rest.  The congealed butter really grossed me out, and it made the tart look entirely unappetizing.  My family didn’t want to eat it.  The flavor of the tart itself was just “okay.” 
*If you’re looking for a good rustic strawberry tart recipe, here’s one that I made that was much more successful:  Rustic Strawberry Galette.

Did this recipe deserve the cover spotlight?  Unfortunately, no.  As pretty as the photograph looks, it just wasn’t all that great, and the addition of butter in the filling was a big mistake.  There are better recipes for strawberry tarts out there.

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Tagged as: strawberry tart recipes, woman's day