Strawberry and Basil Tart

Combining strawberries and basil, don't you think it's a wonderful success? In case you have any doubts, today's recipe will dispel them all just by taking a bite of the wonderful strawberry and basil tart that I am showing you today. A cake with a lot of flavor and full of fresh and spring aromas, perfect to serve at any time of the day.

Strawberry is one of my favorite fruits. Fresh, roasted, poached or candied it is delicious. In desserts, salads, or in sauces with vinegar or wine reduction to accompany meats it is splendid. Simply cut into small pieces, mixed with plain yogurt or cream cheese, it makes a top-notch dessert. What to say if they are accompanied with a good spoonful of whipped cream, a bit of pastry cream or vanilla ice cream.

This strawberry and basil tart is a luxury dessert , a tart with which to conquer adults and children alike and that, as soon as you try it, will remain fixed in your recipe book. Let's go with the recipe!

Ingredients

For the sweet dough (pâte sucrée)

• 150g diced butter
• 100g icing sugar
• 60 g almond flour (very finely ground almonds)
• 1 egg
• 1 pinch of salt
• 250g of flour

For the almond cream

• 100 g of softened butter
• 100g of sugar
• 100 g very finely ground almonds
• 2 eggs

For the strawberry and basil jam

• 300g strawberries
• 35g of sugar
• 3g pectin
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 6 large basil leaves

For final assembly

• 400g strawberries
• A few small basil leaves

Preparation

Preparation of the sweet dough

1. In a food processor (in the absence of it, in a large bowl), beat the butter until softened to the point of ointment.
2. Add the icing sugar and almond flour and mix.
3. Add the salt and the egg and keep mixing until you get a smooth consistency.
4. Add the flour and mix for the minimum time, just until it is integrated.
5. Gather the dough into a ball, wrap it in transparent film and leave it in the fridge for at least one hour.
6. After that time, remove it from the film and take it to a floured work surface. Roll it out with the help of a rolling pin, giving it a circular shape (the marble ones are great in this type of dough, because they keep the dough cold for longer).
7. Pass the dough to the De Buyer perforated mold with removable base (or to a perforated tray, arranging a perforated ring in it) previously greased. Lower the dough to the base and press it with your fingers towards the walls of the mold (it should form a right angle between the walls and the base).
8. Leave the dough in the mold covered in film for at least one hour (ideally all night!, until the next day).
9. Once the rest is done, bake the dough in the preheated oven at 160 °C, for 15 minutes.
10. After 15 minutes, remove the dough from the oven and reserve. Keep the oven on.

Preparation of the almond cream

1. Put the butter, sugar, ground almonds and eggs in the processor bowl and mix until you get a cream with a homogeneous texture.
2. Spread the almond cream on the base of the cake that you have baked for 15 minutes. Spread it well with an angled spatula and place two or three sliced ​​strawberries on top.
3. Bake at 160°C for 25 minutes.
4. After the time has elapsed, take the cake out of the oven, carefully unmold the base and let it cool on a wire rack .

Preparing the strawberry and basil jam

1. Clean and finely chop the strawberries and place them in a saucepan along with the chopped basil leaves.
2. Let cook over low heat for 15 minutes.
3. In a bowl, mix the sugar well with the pectin; add to the strawberries, stir to blend, and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Finally, add the lemon juice, stirring well.
5. Put the jam in an airtight container and take it to the fridge, to cool.

Assembly of the cake

1. While the jam and tart base cool, cut the strawberries in half with a knife and set aside.
2. When the jam and tart base have cooled, pour the jam over the tart and spread it out with a spatula, dividing it evenly.
3. Place the halves of the strawberries in a circle forming a border on the cake, as seen in the video.
4. Gracefully cover the entire cake with the rest of the strawberries and spread the basil leaves on top.
5. Serve with a cup of tea on its own or with a cloud of milk or your favorite vegetable drink.

Grades

• If you don't have pectin, you can replace it with the peel of an apple, since this fruit has a naturally high pectin content, which is mainly concentrated in its skin.
• The pectin must be mixed with the sugar so that it integrates well and it is necessary to add the lemon juice to activate it.
• Try this cake in an individual version, make combinations with different red fruits, change the basil for rosemary or lavender... you will surely fall in love with all the versions, because it is delicious!
• I adore strawberry jam. Whether it's to accompany some bread, some cookies, or spoonfuls!, it's delicious. The jam of this cake is also perfect for breakfast, and if you want my favorite recipe for strawberry jam, with a touch of cinnamon, you can find it here .
• To remove the stems from strawberries, a very quick and easy way is to do it with the WMF corer and stem remover , which is also ideal for tomato stems.