Strawberry eclair tart

If you’ve already made strawberry trifle, then you know that strawberries, custard and cream are the perfect combination :). This time – an Éclair Tart for those with a serious sweet tooth. Choux pastry, traditional homemade vanilla crème pâtissière and plenty of fresh strawberries come together in a dessert that’s like giant éclairs in cake form. The choux pastry base is baked in a tart tin, but if you don’t have one, you can use a springform tin or even an ovenproof dish. This base has nothing but advantages: there’s no kneading, chilling or rolling involved. Simply spread the dough over the tin with your fingers. It rises beautifully above the edges of the tin. You simply have to bake this while strawberry season lasts!

If you’d like to serve the tart the following day, bake the pastry base and prepare the custard the evening before, storing the custard in the fridge. Assemble the tart on the day of serving so that the pastry stays crisp for as long as possible.

Note: On Moje Wypieki, 1 cup always equals 250 ml.

Ingredients for the choux pastry:

• ¾ cup water
• 90 g butter
• ¾ cup plain flour
• 3 large eggs

All the ingredients should be at room temperature.

In a saucepan, bring the water and butter to the boil. Add the flour and, without removing the pan from the heat, stir vigorously until the dough forms a smooth ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan. The dough is ready when it has a glossy appearance. Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely (this is very important; otherwise the pastry will not rise properly in the oven). Once cooled, beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition until the dough is smooth and uniform.

Grease a 25–27 cm tart tin with butter. Transfer the dough to the tin and spread it evenly over the base and sides using your hands. Depending on the depth of your tin, you may have a little pastry left over – don’t waste it; you can bake a couple of small éclairs with it.

Bake at 200°C for about 25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and fully baked. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Ingredients for the vanilla crème pâtissière:

• 600 ml milk
• seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod
• 6 egg yolks, from large eggs
• 100 g sugar
• 40 g plain flour
• 40 g potato starch (or cornflour)

In a large saucepan, bring the milk and vanilla seeds to the boil. As soon as it boils, remove from the heat.

Place the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of a mixer and whisk until pale and thick. Add the flour and starch and continue whisking until smooth. Pour 100 ml of the hot milk into the egg mixture and mix on low speed until combined. Pour the tempered egg mixture into the remaining hot milk and whisk thoroughly. Return the pan to medium heat and bring to the boil, stirring frequently. Once boiling, cook for about 1 minute, stirring continuously, until the custard thickens.

Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Cover the surface directly with cling film to prevent a skin from forming and leave to cool completely. Do not stir while cooling.

The finished crème pâtissière can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Ingredients for the cream:

• 250 ml double cream, chilled
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar

Whip the cream and icing sugar together until stiff peaks form.

Assembly:

Spread the cold custard over the cooled choux pastry base and smooth the surface. Top with the whipped cream. Arrange fresh strawberries on top.

Store the strawberry eclair tart in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!