A real summery delight, this tart is easy to make if you use a commercial tart case and a commercial curd.
This is a tart version of a cake I was commissioned by Sainsbury’s to make several years ago:
For this tart I use passionfruit curd. While I like to make the curd, you can buy good commerical ones online or in many garden centre shops. However, a good quality lemon curd also works well.
If you don’t want to make the pastry cases you can also buy good pre-baked tart cases from most supermarkets: you can use one large tart case or several small, individual ones. Just check the pastry cases carefully on the shelves as they are prone to breakages!
The white chocolate in the filling is mainly there to stabilise it, holding everything gloriously in place in a mousse-like way. However, the white chocolate that is brushed along the inside of the pastry case not only adds a lovely chocolate flavour, it provides a barrier between the filling and the pastry to ensure the pastry remains crisp.
You can use thick Greek yoghurt in place of double cream for a tangier and (slightly) lighter filling. However, for an even simpler filling you can just use whipped double cream or a carton of good quality custard – although if you fold the custard into the whipped cream, you get a sublime mixture that goes so well with the fruit.
Finishing the tart
Sometimes I pile the strawberries on top in a random way (whole, halved or chopped up), but at other times I slice them and arranging them carefully.
If you like piping, you can reserve some of the filling and pipe some of it on top as in the photo below, but it still looks lovely without this – as in the photo above.
I also like to use up other fruits that are available – fresh blueberries, raspberries are particular favourites of mine – and crushed up pistachios or walnuts for added flavour and crunch. These are, of course, entirely optional!
Recipe: strawberry, passionfruit and white chocolate tart – serves 8-10
- 7-8″ baked pastry tart case
- 30g white chocolate, melted – to brush inside the tart case
- 100g passionfruit curd (or fruit curd of choice)
- about 80g fresh strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped
For the creamy filling:
- 1 tub mascarpone
- 150ml double cream or Greek yoghurt
- 3 tablespoons Amaretto
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 80g passionfruit curd or curd of choice
- 80g white chocolate, melted and slightly cooled
To top:
- about 200g fresh strawberries
- 2 tablespoons Amaretto
- pulp from 3 passionfruits
- a few pistachios, roughly crushed to scatter over
- fresh blueberries, optional
- fresh mint or lemon balm leaves
(1) For the tart case: melt the white chocolate and pour into the baked case. Use a pastry brush or the back of a spoon and spread the chocolate all over the inside of the pasty case. Chill to set.
(2) When the chocolate has set, spread the passionfruit curd over it and top with the chopped strawberries.
(3) For the filling: beat the mascarpone, double cream, vanilla paste, passionfruit curd and amaretto together for a few minutes until thickened and light. Add the chocolate and whisk in for a few seconds.
(4) Spoon the filling onto the base, covering the strawberries, and smooth off. There is plenty of filling, so you can reserve some to pipe on top if you wish.
(5) Cut the strawberries -either in half or in slices – and mix gently with the Amaretto. Arrange them however you like over the filling. Pipe any reserved filling around the edge if you wish.
(6) Scatter over passionfruit pulp, along with any extra fruit or nuts, if using. Chill until serving: it will keep for a couple of days in the fridge.
