Simplest Strawberry Tart
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus 2 hours’ chilling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
- ⅔cup/85 grams all-purpose flour
- ⅔cup/85 grams rye flour
- ½teaspoon salt
- 1½teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 9tablespoons/127 grams very cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
- 1large egg, lightly beaten, for egg wash
- 1cup/225 grams mascarpone, at room temperature
- 3tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1pound/450 grams small, sweet strawberries
- 3tablespoons high-quality strawberry jam
For the Rye Crust
For the Tart
Preparation
- Step 1
Prepare the crust: Whisk the flours and salt together in a large bowl. Combine apple cider vinegar with 5 tablespoons ice water.
- Step 2
Working quickly, add butter to the flour mixture and toss to coat. Use your fingers or the palms of your hands to press each cube of butter into the flour, ensuring that each butter piece gets coated, until the mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-size lumps. If at any time the butter seems warm or soft, briefly refrigerate the bowl. Alternatively, you can pulse the butter and flour together in a food processor.
- Step 3
Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the cold vinegar-water mixture over the flour mixture. Use a gentle hand or wooden spoon to stir the water into the flour until just combined. If using a food processor, pulse a few more times, or until the dough begins to come together. If the dough seems dry, add more of the cold vinegar-water mixture, a couple of teaspoons at a time. You have added enough water when you can pick up a handful of the dough and easily squeeze it together without it falling apart.
- Step 4
Form the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight. (Dough keeps for up to 3 months in the freezer wrapped in a double layer of plastic wrap and a layer of foil. Thaw in refrigerator before using.)
- Step 5
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 400 degrees.
- Step 6
On a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, roll out the pie crust into an oval about 15 x 6 inches and just under ¼-inch thick. Use a paring knife or pastry cutter to trim any rough edges and move the parchment paper and crust to a baking sheet, preferably rimless. Dock the crust with a fork to prevent it from puffing up too much in the oven. Brush the surface of the crust from edge to edge with the egg wash.
- Step 7
Bake until crust is deep golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Check on the crust halfway through baking; if any bubbles have appeared, use a spatula to press them flat. Cool the crust completely on the pan.
- Step 8
Prepare the tart: While the crust is cooling, combine mascarpone and 2 tablespoons sugar. Hull the strawberries and cut them into ¼-inch slices.
- Step 9
Carefully slide the cooled crust off the baking sheet onto a serving platter or board. Spread mascarpone over the top in an even layer, dot with jam, then arrange sliced strawberries in a single, slightly overlapping layer in a decorative pattern. Sprinkle the tart with the remaining tablespoon of sugar. (Omit this final sprinkling if your strawberries are particularly sweet.) Slice and serve immediately.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
You can just use regular all-purpose instead of the rye flour.
Rye flour - is this a must? Are there any less esoteric substitutes?
Have made this at least 4 times this summer already. Did not use rye flour but have used almond flour - delicious and simple.
I just checked the cookbook and thank you for including weights in the cookbook and in the recipe! Although I'm American, I strongly prefer to bake by weight vs. volume (and in metric units -- but I'll take what I can get) and it's so refreshing to see a gradual move in baking toward this!
Consider skipping the strawberry jam if you have sweet enough strawberries or lots of them.
The rye does make it more interesting and a nice change from the classic pastry crust. I didn't tell out guests until they had eaten it and all were pleasantly surprised.
Also, consider cooking less than 20 minutes -- we found the tart was more tender and cooking it 20 minutes, it was tougher and hard for people to cut. Then again, it all depends on your oven.
The last thing we need right now is a "patriotic look" given all the jingoistic raving that we are contending with at present.
That said, blueberries are delicious and taste great with strawberries.
Excellent and easy.
While a few have asked about the necessity of the rye flour, it really does add a nice subtle favor that's worth picking some up. Necessary? Maybe not. Worth it? Yes.
A did stripes of strawberries and blueberries, which would be attractive for a patriotic look.
I added the jam to the mascarpone to make it easier to spread and introduce the flavor throughout.
As others have noted, my crust was finished baking before the recommended 20-25 minutes.
Thanks for your notes about the baking time. We've updated the range to 15 to 20 minutes (from the original 20 to 25). I hope that helps!
Delicious. I skipped the jam and drizzled the berries with a balsamic glaze (good quality balsamic vinegar boiled with brown sugar), and also added a little vanilla to the marscapone. Would also be very good with mint.
I used almond flour. It was delicious!
There's no need to chill it, and it's best to not let it sit around after you've added the mascarpone and berries.
How many people does this serve? I'm preparing dessert for 11 and I'm wondering if I need to make two of these...
made it as directed. Rye flour added great flavor. The family raved. Super easy because the crust could be made in the a.m. and the rest assembled just before serving.
This has been my favorite strawberry dessert this summer. The crust is delicious. I melted the jam in a little saucepan and tossed the berries in it instead of dotting.
If you don't want to buy even a small bag of rye flour, markets with good bulk sections often have it. If you don't mind buying a bag, Bob's Red Mill or Kind Arthur sell less than 5 lbs. Rye is a great addition to pie crusts for cherry and other fruit pies, too.
Made this with thin slices of late summer peaches, so so good! The rye flour definitely adds a layer of taste here, I wouldn't sub it out, and will def make this often. Served it at a dinner party to rave reviews.
Why not do this on a sheet of puff pastry?
Added a little cream and vanilla to marscapone and whisked for easy spreading Warmed jam and spread on shell prior to adding the marscapone.
Could you use purchased puff pastry instead of making dough?
I don't see an amount noted for the water that supposed to be mixed with the apple cider vinegar. ??
“Combine apple cider vinegar with 5 tablespoons ice water.”
I'm wondering if this can be made in a jelly roll pan. It would eliminate the need to transfer the crust to a board, plus easier to cut equal square pieces.
Which type of rye flour? White rye or whole grain? The recipe does not specify
Because the recipe does not specific, it's up to you.
The rye flour is really what sets this tart apart from others, and I was not a fan of that aspect; it gave it too savory of a flavor for me and a kind of grainy texture. Feel like the rye could work if this went in a more “transitional” course direction—maybe sub crème fraiche for mascarpone, omit the jam, and do a balsamic reduction drizzle over the strawberries. Otherwise, I think this would be better with all AP flour or maybe something like almond flour instead of the rye.
Second question - I am curious as to just how much difference a particular type of vinegar makes in a recipe. Yesterday I searched far and wide for sherry vinegar for a fish recipe and ended up using the recommended substitute - sherry wine plus red wine vinegar. Now I'm wondering - do I really need to buy apple cider vinegar for this recipe or can I just use the red wine vinegar? I ask these questions as a snowbird with limited space in my winter kitchen.
You can use any mild vinegar: apple cider, white vinegar, red wine, champagne. (Not balsamic, of course). My 50-year old pie dough recipe calls for apple cider vin just like this one. One minor reason is that substituting vinegar for some of the water makes less gluten. Water + flour = gluten. Vin + flour = no gluten. Gluten formation makes a tougher crust. This is a minimal effect though (if at all). Mostly the vinegar helps prevent over-working of the dough, and the dough turning gray.
I'm just curious - what does the rye flour add - is it flavor? texture? Maybe the cooking editor can help here.
Rye bread tastes different than white bread. Same difference in flavor here, but more subtle because of the smaller quantity.
Based on comments about a soggy crust, I brushed a thin layer of white chocolate onto the warm crust. It did the trick and kept my crust crisp for about two days.
Great recipe! Used a food processor for the crust, easy as pie, use the rye. We have an abundance of blackberries on Vashon Island so I utilized those. Mixed marscapone and creme fraiche. Amazing.
Does anyone know if it would work if I halved the recipe and used a round tart dish? Want to make it for just my husband and I. Thanks!
Made as written was delicious; rye flour terrific. Followed tip added blueberries for 4th of July. Big hit! Will make again.
I made the mistake of using gluten-free all purpose flour, with dismal results. A waste of all the other ingredients
Advertisement