Strawberry and Lemon Cream Tart

Ingredients:

Strawberry Topping

Lemon Scented Pastry Cream

Instructions:

Sweet Pastry Case

Roll out the sweet pastry dough to a thickness of 2mm and roughly 11-12 inches in diameter and carefully line a 10 inch tart mold/ring with a removable bottom. Fold in the excess dough around the edges of the tart to produce a double layer/thickness and use a sharp knife to trim off any excess. Cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30mins.
Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
Make a egg wash, by cracking one egg and whisking it with a bit of salt.
Remove the chilled tart case from the fridge, and place onto a baking sheet/pan. Cover the tart pastry with parchment paper, and either fill with baking beans. Place the tart case in the center of the oven and blind bake for 30-35mins, till 80% cooked through. Take it out of the oven and remove the parchment paper and baking beans from the tart case. Apply the egg wash all over the surface of the tart shell and return to the oven for a further 15mins till the tart shell is golden brown and fully cooked.

Lemon Pastry Cream

In a pan, add the half and half, and half the sugar and cook over medium low heat until it reaches a simmer. Whisk together the two egg yolks, whole egg, remaining sugar, salt, flour and corn starch until thoroughly combined and pour the hot cream mixture over the eggs and whisk thoroughly. Return the mixture back into the pan and cook over medium high heat while continuously whisking to remove any lumps. When the mixture comes to a boil and starts to thicken, reduce the heat down to low and continue whisky for 3-5mins.
Pass your cooked pastry cream through a strainer and add your limoncello, lemon zest and juice and butter, and stirred until well combined. Allow to cool.

Assembly

Fill your cooked and cooked tart shell with your cooled lemon pastry cream mix, spread your pastry cream so that there’s a even layer across the top. Top your pastry cream with your sliced strawberries till you’ve completely covered the surface of the tart, ensuring that each sequential row of strawberries overlap the preceding one.
Allow to cool and chill in the fridge till you’re ready to serve.

Notes:

Try to make this tart when strawberries are in season and are the best quality possible, as this will really make or break this pastry. When buying strawberries, look for strawberries that are a deep bright red, firm without any bruises or blemishes, and are very fragrant. Generally strawberries that are sourced locally and listed organic tend to be better quality and more flavourful.
When slicing your strawberries and assembling this tart, try to pair up larger pieces together and line them up around the outer edge of the tart followed by the smaller slices toward the center.
I would recommend you make the lemon pastry cream mixture a day before you decide to bake your tart shell, as it takes a bit of time for the pastry cream mixture to cool before you can begin filling in the tart case.
You can substitute the lemon and limoncello with orange and orange liqueur.
This dessert can be made the day or even a couple of days in advance and kept in the fridge without any problems. But I wouldn’t make this tart too far in advance otherwise you run the risk of the strawberries spoiling and ruining the tart.