PROJECT PATISSERIE: Adventure #14
My ode to summer continues this week with the mighty strawberry.
Unlike rhubarb, I doubt I have to work very hard to sing its praises as the
plethora of desserts featuring this delightful little berry are enough to speak
to its overwhelming popularity.
The two headlining features in this week’s dessert are strawberries
and lemon. While perhaps a less obvious combination than strawberries and
rhubarb, they do work well together, as evidenced by the ubiquitous summertime
drink, strawberry lemonade. In fact, if strawberry lemonade ever wanted to make
a foray into the dessert realm, I am confident that this would be its first
incarnation.
There seems to be a large contingent of Americans who are
not fans of citrus desserts. I encourage the folks out there who dismissed this
dessert at the “lemon” part to please give it a try (or encourage the baker in
their life to give it a try and they can taste the spoils!) I say this with the
utmost confidence because I am of the same proclivity: I love lemons and all
manner of citrus in every possible way except in my pastry. But this dessert is
different.
My brother Tom, who has always had a sweet tooth, moved to
Charleston, South Carolina some years back. He said that his first summer there,
with the intense heat and high humidity, almost killed him. Eventually he
adjusted to the summer weather, but in the years since, he’s given up the majority
of his sweets, finding that in the oppressive heat the last thing he wants to
eat is sugar.
Tom and his stories of the Southern summers were in the back
of my mind as I read through this recipe, particularly as it came from a
southern-themed magazine where the editors pegged it as “refreshing.” With the
sort of summers the South experiences, that’s saying something, but those editors
weren’t kidding. The lemon makes this the first truly refreshing non-frozen
dessert I think I’ve ever had. I’ll be sure to revisit this recipe in July when
the North Country experiences our two weeks of unbearable heat!
These little guys present pretty well and are sure to entice
lots of “ohhh”-ing and “awww”-ing from friends and family. Don’t be intimidated
by the length of the recipe, as it actually goes rather quickly.
Miniature
Strawberry-Lemon Cream Tart
Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Roll out two
pie crusts into two 12 inch circles on a work surface dusted with a bit of
powdered sugar. Stamp out twelve, 6 inch
circles. Fit the rounds, sugar side down, into some kind of miniature,
oven-proof vessel. The recipe suggests miniature pie pans. I experimented with a variety of things-
including miniature tart rings, a miniature spring form pan, and individual
ramekins. While I found that the tart pans produced the most visually appealing
results, the ramekins produced the most useful ones. Because of the viscose
nature of the strawberry topping, a crust that’s more cup-like (verses more
plate-like) makes for tidier serving and eating!
Anyway, pick a vessel, fit with the dough, turning the edges
under and crimping to make a decorative edge. Prick the fitted dough with the
tines of a fork dipped in flour and bake until golden (the time will vary some
depending on the container, but usually between 8 – 12 minutes.) Place the
crusts on a cooling rack for 5 minutes and then take them out of their baking
containers and allow to cool completely.
While those are doing their thing, prepare the lemon
filling. Beat 12 ounces of room temperature cream cheese with 1 Tbsp. of sour
cream until smooth. Add ½ c. of granulated sugar, 2 tsp. of lemon zest and 3
Tbsp. of strained lemon juice and beat until smooth (the recipe also adds
“fluffy” but mine never fluffed up so I’m not sure what to do with that part.)
Divide the cream evenly between the cooled pie crusts. Remember, warm pastry
crust + cream filling= soup. Really.
Although I’m not the most patient of bakers, I do adhere to that one cardinal
rule.
Once the crusts are filled with lemony-deliciousness, put
them in a deep dish, cover the dish with plastic wrap and refrigerate them
until ready to serve. Reportedly they’ll stay happy in the refrigerator up to
24 hours.
Three hours or so before service, start on the strawberry
topping. I made the strawberry topping the day before. During the following 24
hours or so that they were hanging out together, the sugar really went to town
on the strawberries and the result was very liquid-y (delicious to be sure, but
very runny.) Time the strawberries accordingly.
Process 1 ½ cups of hulled strawberries in a food processor
or blender until smooth; strain and pour into a 3 qt. saucepan. Add 1 cup of
granulated sugar. Stir. As a side note(
to any strawberry daiquiri fans out there) this strawberry-sugar mixture would
make a divine base for a strawberry daiquiri. So much attention is paid to
eating seasonally, but, in my opinion, not enough to drinking seasonally! We
should all take time to the toast the seasons more often (with, or without, the
addition of alcohol.)
Anyway, back to the dessert. In a small bowl, whisk together
2 Tbsp. cornstarch and ¼ c. of water and slowly add it to the strawberry-sugar
mixture. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly for
about a minute. Remove from heat and mix
in 1 Tbsp. of butter. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, wash and hull ten cups of strawberries- or so the
recipe says. I don’t know what on Earth one is supposed to do with ten cups of
strawberries. I ended up using about 8 cups and I had plenty left over. Of
course that’s not really a problem at my house. Leftover strawberry topping
goes really well with left over cream- a delicious problem to be faced with!
So, 8- 10 cups of strawberries. Cut some in half or quarters, leave the smaller
ones whole. Mix the fresh strawberries gently with the cooled strawberry-
cornstarch mixture and refrigerate until cool.
Just before serving, top each pastry crust with ½ cup of the
strawberry topping and a dollop of Chantilly cream (or store-bought whipped
topping), sit back, and enjoy!
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| I happen to love strawberries so I piled them on! |
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