Raffaello tart with strawberries

Raffaello tart with strawberries is another wonderful summer strawberry dessert and a beautiful treat for Mother’s Day. A crisp, buttery pastry shell is filled with a luscious coconut cream and topped with fresh strawberries and Raffaello chocolates. It’s always a crowd-pleaser, and I have to admit that stopping at just one slice is nearly impossible!

Note: The canned coconut milk must be chilled in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours before preparing the cream.

Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry:

• 200 g plain flour
• 90 g cold butter, diced
• 30 g lard*, cold and diced
• 60 g icing sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 2–3 tablespoons cold water

Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the butter and lard, then rub them into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively, prepare the pastry in a food processor. Add the icing sugar, salt and cold water, then quickly bring the dough together. Shape into a disc, wrap in cling film and chill in the refrigerator for 30–60 minutes.

Butter a 24 cm tart tin and dust lightly with flour, shaking out any excess. Roll out the chilled pastry to approximately 3 mm thick and line the tart tin. Chill again for 30 minutes. Lightly dust the pastry with flour, line with baking paper and fill with baking beans, dried beans or rice.

Preheat the oven to 220°C. Reduce the temperature to 190°C and blind bake the pastry for 15 minutes. Remove the tart shell from the oven, discard the baking paper and baking weights, then reduce the oven temperature to 180°C. Return the pastry to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes, or until golden brown and fully baked. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

Ingredients for the coconut cream:

• 400 g mascarpone, chilled
• 400 g canned coconut milk, chilled
• 3 tablespoons icing sugar
• 8 g vanillin sugar or 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 1 tablespoon coconut liqueur

Carefully remove the chilled coconut milk from the refrigerator. Turn the can upside down and open it. Pour off the coconut water into a separate container (it won’t be needed for this recipe but can be used in smoothies or other drinks). Scoop the thick coconut cream from the can into the bowl of a stand mixer (you should have approximately 230 g). Add the mascarpone, vanilla sugar or vanilla paste, icing sugar and coconut liqueur. Whip just until a smooth, thick cream forms. Do not overwhip, as the cream may split. Spread the coconut cream evenly over the cooled tart shell.

To finish:

• ½–¾ cup desiccated coconut
• 350 g strawberries
• Raffaello chocolates, halved

Sprinkle the coconut cream with an even layer of desiccated coconut, reserving a small amount for the top of the tart. Hull and halve the strawberries, then arrange them over the coconut layer. Decorate with the halved Raffaello chocolates and sprinkle with the remaining desiccated coconut. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

*Lard gives the pastry an exceptionally crisp and crumbly texture, but it can be replaced with the same weight of additional butter.

Enjoy!