We have strawberries in ALL the supermarkets, market stalls and everywhere! I actually still find it strange, seeing as I associate strawberries with the summer months… but recently, they just seem to be there all the time… not sure how and why…must ask at the market the next time I go.. 
Now everyone knows I’m the queen believer of the whole “love your imperfections” thing… and I really am…. I think it’s partly laziness… I mean, can you see me standing there analyzing the size of each strawberry, chucking out the ones that don’t make the cut just so that my tart will look like those glazed fruit tarts you see in all the display cases at the high end pastry shops..?? NO! Also, I have an empathy towards ugly fruit and veg… I like them! And why shouldn’t i! I buy the apple that’s bruised… I pick up the knobly potatoes… I dig through a pile of perfectly round tomatoes to try to find the ones which are perhaps scraped or dented… Look, they all came from the same place… and they’re going to be eaten and appreciated in the same way… so what.. what is our obsession to only look at and pick up the shiny perfectly polished ones..??
I did make this tart thinking about LOVE day, yes… nothing wrong with that?! I had good intentions… and I didn’t want the typica heart shaped dessert.. I did cut out a few hearts out of the left over pastry from the tart though… i DO love heart shapes… they’re sweet!:)
I used Lorraine Pascale’s recipe for this tart case, as I wanted a wholewheat one this time.. and her book “A Lighter Way to Bake” is pretty awesome, with tonnes of great , healthier baking ideas…
This was actually quite a lot of fun to put together! And SO super easy… it’s just a few parts, constructing them separately and then putting them together to create this pretty , sweet tart! Perfect for Sunday in the kitchen… OR if you ARE doing this for Valentines Day.. the night before, this tastes great the next day too.. it may not last too long though as it’s fresh whipped cream so I’d say a day or 2 at the most.. I finished with a few mint leaves to give it that fresh flavour.. mint and strawberries go really well together actually.. you could also drizzle over some melted white chocolate…whatever you feel like doing and whatever you have around on the day!
- For the tart case:
- 225grams wholewheat flour
- 100 grams unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 3-4 tablespoons water
- For the filling:
- 250 ml whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons icing sugar
- 80 ml greek yoghurt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- For the topping:
- 400 grams strawberries, hulled and cut in halves
- 2 tablespoons honey
- mint leaves
- For the tart case:
- Put the flour and butter in a bowl and begin “cutting” it in… this just means either cut into it using a pastry cutter or, what I do is, rub it in tgoether using your fingertips to form breadcrumb type consistency.. keep rubbing in until you reach this point.
- Stir in the sugar then add the egg yolk and 3 tablespoons of the water.
- Stir this with a wooden spoon or spatula to bring it all togther and then use your hands.
- Turn it out onto your work top and start using your hands to bring it all together, kneading it gently.
- Roll it or flatten it out into a flat disc, cover with cling film and leave it inthe fridge for about half an hour.
- Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C
- Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out to the size of your tart tin. Take a large sheet of parchment paper, scrunch it up and place it on your tin. then place the pastry onto that. Press down and then prick all over with a fork. Cover with foil or baking beans . Bake in the oven for 20 minutes covered, then remove the foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until your tart is golden brown but not overcooked.
- Meanwhile Beat the whipping cream until you get soft peaks. Add the icing sugar, sifted, and the vanilla extract and continue beating. then fold in the greek yoghurt. Add the lemon zest, fold in once again and transfer to a bowl, cover and leave in the fridge until the tart case has cooled down.
- Prepare the honey glaze by adding a tablespoon of water to the honey, stir together and set aside.
- Now to assemble, remove the pastry case from the tin and place it on a serving plate. Brush the base of the tart with the honey glaze. Spoon the cream mixture gently into the pastry, evening it out with the back of a spoon..
- Arrange the strawberries as I did or in any way you feel like!
- Brush the tops of the strawberries with the honey glaze.
- Top with mint leaves.
- And serve!
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