Strawberry Passionfruit Tart

This weekend was packed with so many birthdays and trying to squeeze in developing, baking, and eating two birthday desserts between birthday dinners and work and friends visiting from afar and gearing up for the imminent sated launch! -- Clearly everyone and their mothers are born in May, so if you're a May baby: Happy Birthday!

Anyways, though I didn't manage to get very many photos of this dessert, I have to say that this strawberry passionfruit tart is one of my favorite developments recently. Richard, the spoiled bf who knows to request tarts and not cupcakes for his birthdays, is a mad-lover of strawberries, so for years now, I've tried my hand at various ways to incorporate strawberries into his birthday desserts: strawberry cheesecake ice cream, strawberry rosemary tarts, actual strawberry cheesecake, strawberry cream puffs. But then I realized that he really wants just one thing: the strawberries--cut the whole 'dessert' crap. So this year, I attempted to make the most unadulterated strawberry dessert I could, with straight-up strawberries (and just strawberries!) filling a meyer lemon-scented crust and brushed with tart passionfruit jelly, since passionfruit is one of Richard's other fruit obsessions. And success! basically, a dessert vehicle for delivering strawberries to the mouth. :)

For this tart, make sure to look for small, ultra-sweet strawberries. Since the strawberries are the main focus of this dessert, it's paramount that they are delicious specimens. The bigger ones this time of year don't pack nearly as much flavor. Small strawberries are also easier to fit into the tart shell, and if they're small enough, you can (if, like me, you're short on time) skip the step of hulling the inner white of the strawberries out.

Don't forget to enter for a chance to win a copy of sated magazine when it comes out, if you haven't already! Pre-orders should be starting sometime in the next week or so, so stay tuned!

Read on for recipe....


Strawberry Passionfruit Tart
makes one 9x9-inch square tart

for tart shell
1 1/2 cups (210 g) flour
1 1/2 Tbspn dark brown sugar
1/4 tspn salt
2 tspn freshly grated meyer lemon zest
10 Tbspn butter, cold and cut into small pieces
1 Tbspn fresh meyer lemon juice
1/2 tspn vanilla
1 - 2 Tbspn cold water

1. Combine the flour, dark brown sugar, salt, and lemon zest in a bowl. Mix.
2. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, cut the butter into the flour mixture until butter is the size of small peas.
3. Mix in the lemon juice and vanilla into the flour mixture. Gradually add the water just until a dough forms when pressed between your fingers. Do not overmix.
4. Form the dough into a flat disc, wrap with parchment paper or plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
5. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough until about 1/8-inch thickness and place in the tart pan, pressing the dough gently into the sides. Trim and discard any excess dough. Prick the bottom of the dough all over with a fork. Return to the refrigerator and chill for at least 10 - 15 minutes.
7. Place a piece of parchment paper over the dough and weigh down with pie weights or dry beans. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes until the edges begin to turn golden. Remove the weights and parchment paper and continue to bake for 3 - 5 minutes more, until the entire tart crust is golden.
8. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.

for filling
2 - 3 punnets strawberries
1 Tbspn water
1/4 + 1/8 tspn gelatin powder
1/4 cup passionfruit pulp or puree
1 1/2 Tbspn sugar
whipped cream, optional

1. Trim the green end off the strawberries and arrange in the cooled tart shell.
2. Place the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin powder over the water and let sit briefly.
3. In a small saucepan, stir to combine the passionfruit and sugar. Add the gelatin and warm over low heat until, stirring until the gelatin has completely dissolved. Do not let boil.
4. Once dissolved, remove from heat and let cool briefly. Spoon or brush a thin layer of the passionfruit onto the strawberries--do not use all of the passionfruit. Place the tart in the refrigerator to let the first layer of jelly set. Keep the passionfruit at room temperature. After about 20 - 30 minutes, brush another layer of passionfruit jelly onto the tart and return to chill. Repeat once more, using the remainder of the passionfruit. Tart is ready to serve when the jelly has set completely. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Enjoy!