It’s officially strawberry season in Virginia and a good friend of mine has been watching our local berry farms website and once she saw an opening, we made our plans to meet. Yesterday, we met at the farm and bought our buckets (the large ones, of course!) and headed out to the furthest edge of the field. My friends husband suggested that it would be the least picked over and boy was he right! After a short amount of searching, we all had buckets overflowing with beautiful bright red strawberries. It was a blast!
So now the question is… what shall we do with our bounty of berries? A few fun things popped into my mind, but a strawberry tart was first on the list. Now although a strawberry tart won’t use up much of my strawberry haul, it will most definitely show them off and I do love a gorgeous dessert hanging out on my counter, so lets get this beauty started…
To get started, you will need some strawberries (the prettier, the better), 2 eggs, a lemon, 1 cup of sugar, 2 boxes of cream cheese, some vanilla extract and puff pastry. Now you technically only need one sheet of puff pastry to make this tart, but if you are planning on adding the decorative braid, you will need two.
Press one sheet of puff pastry into a deep pie dish and trim off any excess. Poke holes with a fork into the base of the dish. These holes will prevent the center of the pastry from bubbling up during baking.
To make the filling, whip together two 8oz packages of room temperature cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar until it is smooth and fluffy. Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and the juice from half of a lemon and continue mixing on medium speed. Finally, add both eggs and mix until all of the ingredients are fully incorporated.
Transfer your cream cheese batter into the pie dish. If you are planning on added the decorative braid, gently fold the edges of the puff pastry over the batter. Don’t press it down, just fold it in a bit and later, we will press the braid onto the excess to secure it.
To make the braids, you will need six 3/4 inch wide strips cut longwise from a full sheet of puff pastry. Each strip should be about 14 inches long. Transfer three of the strips onto a lightly floured surface and gather them together at the top. Braid them together loosely and gather the ends together at the bottom. Repeat with the remaining three strips, so you have two braids.
Carefully place one of the braids around the edge of the pie dish. One braid should cover just slightly over half of the way around. Gently press the braid down onto the edge of the base puff pastry. Repeat with the second braid. Brush the braid with some egg wash (1 egg and 1 teaspoon of water whisked together). Bake at 425 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until the cream cheese filling is set and the pastry edges are puffed up and golden brown.
This is what you are looking for. Golden edges and a fully set filling. Now for the stars of the show! Pick out your best looking berries and cut them in half longwise. You can arrange them how ever you want! You can cover the entire top or just part of the top. Have fun with it! I chose fresh strawberries for this tart, because the cream cheese filling pairs so well with fresh fruit. You can macerate the strawberries and add a bit of granulated sugar, as you would a strawberry shortcake topping too though.
Top this beauty off with some fresh whipped cream and you have yourself one truly good looking dessert. Although tis’ the season for strawberries, you can repeat this tart during blueberry season, blackberry season or even peach season. Now you have a tasty tart recipe for every fruit season. Consider yourself prepared!
Strawberry Tart
Ingredients
- 2 sheets of puff pastry
- 2-3 cups fresh strawberries
- 16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon water
- whipped cream (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425 degrees
- Press one sheet of puff pastry into a deep pie dish and poke holes throughout the base with a fork
- Trim away any excess dough
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip together 2 8oz packages of room temperature cream cheese and 1 cup of granulated sugar until smooth and creamy
- Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice. Mix to combine
- Add 2 eggs and mix until all of the ingredients are fully incorporated
- Transfer the cream cheese mixture into the pie dish
- Gently fold over the edges of the puff pastry (see photo/instructions above)
- To make the braids, cut six 3/4 inch strips longwise from a full length sheet of puff pastry
- Form two braids by loosely braiding three strips, gathering them together at the top and bottom of each braid
- Gently place them around the edge of the pie dish and press them onto the excess puff pastry
- Whisk together the remaining egg and 1 teaspoon of water in a small bowl
- Brush both braids with the egg wash
- Bake on a middle rack at 425 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until the filling has set and the pastry is puffed and golden brown
- Transfer the pie dish onto a cooling rack
- Top with strawberries and whipped cream
