The Domestication Project

I discovered this recipe on Evil Chef Mom. (The beautiful photo is also borrowed from her, since I can never remember to take a picture when I make this.) I always have mixed emotions about taking this dessert to a party, but the joy of sharing it (and garnering many compliments in the process) usually outweighs the desire to keep it all for myself.

Thanks to a fortuitous mistake, I’ve made one minor change to the original recipe. I accidentally doubled the amount of brown sugar in the crust the first time I made this and after correcting my error the second time around, decided I liked the sweeter crust. In my opinion, the mild cream filling wasn’t sweet enough to top an almost-savory crust. The change is already made in the recipe below.

This is the perfect dessert to make when strawberries first appear in the early summer. Even though for most of us that time is past, we can enjoy it all summer long thanks to some hard-working produce truckers. (Where are the strawberries coming from at this time of year? Canada?)

brown sugar strawberry tart

from Evil chef mom who got it from sunset magazine april 2010

1 cup flour
6 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar, divided
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, divided
1/2 cup creme fraiche
1/2 cup whipping cream
12 ounces strawberries, hulled and sliced

Preheat oven to 350°. In a food processor, whirl flour, 4 tablespoons sugar, the cornstarch, and salt until combined. Add butter and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and pulse until fine crumbs form and dough just begins to come together. Press evenly into bottom and up sides of a 9-in. round tart pan with a removable rim.

Bake until edges are golden, 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool on a rack, then gently push tart crust from pan rim; set on a plate.

In a bowl with a mixer on high speed, beat creme fraiche, cream, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until thick. Spread in cooled crust. Arrange strawberries in circles on top, alternating cut sides down and up.

Chill, loosely covered, up to 4 hours.

If you have some lemon thyme leaves served this some thyme sprinkled on the top. It love the herbal lemony taste of the thyme mixed with the sweetness of the strawberries and the tang of the creme fraiche.