Ah, summer settling in… the days stretching out, picnics, lunches on the terrace, and above all, red berries flooding the market stalls! Redcurrants, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and of course… strawberries, so fragrant that they’re hard to resist. So to make the most of all this lovely abundance, I’m offering you a very simple but absolutely irresistible recipe: a red berry tart on a breton shortbread base, filled with a smooth vanilla diplomat cream. It’s fresh, it’s indulgent, and above all, it’s foolproof!
What’s different here is the base: no classic pâte sucrée, but a delicious breton shortbread, generous with butter and slightly salted, which brings a texture that’s both crunchy and melting. A lovely alternative that makes a change, while remaining easy to make at home. For this recipe, I took inspiration from Christophe Felder’s breton shortbread, which I’d already used for a very original mango bergamot tart (if you haven’t tried it yet, I recommend that one too!).
On the fruit side, I went for a mix of nicely ripe red berries, but of course, you can very well make it with strawberries only — it’s just as delicious! In fact, that’s what I did the first time, with lovely, sweet French strawberries, and it was a real success. My sister, who isn’t generally a fan of desserts, asked for more (which is practically a miracle!). The marriage of the breton shortbread, the vanilla sweetness of the diplomat cream and the natural acidity of the red berries works wonderfully. It’s a simple dessert, but one that looks stunning and is sure to delight the taste buds.
In short, if you’re looking for a light, fresh and easy dessert idea for this summer, this tart is made for you. To be enjoyed well chilled, with a good coffee or a homemade lemonade. And above all, have fun with the fruit! Raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, or even a few cubes of peach or apricot… anything goes.
Ingredients & preparation
4 components · Full recipe
Raspberry Confit
Ingredients
- 150 g (5.3 oz) raspberry purée
- 15 g (0.5 oz) caster sugar
- 2 g (0.1 oz) NH pectin
Preparation
1
In a saucepan, gently warm the raspberry purée.
2
Add the sugar and NH pectin, having mixed them together thoroughly beforehand. Bring to the boil, whisking constantly.
3
Transfer to a small bowl, press cling film directly onto the surface and refrigerate until assembly.
Vanilla Diplomat Cream
Ingredients
- 250 g (8.8 oz) milk
- 1 organic Madagascar vanilla pod
- 40 g (1.4 oz) egg yolks
- 60 g (2.1 oz) sugar
- 25 g (0.9 oz) cornstarch
- 2 g (0.1 oz) gelatine
- 100 g (3.5 oz) full-fat liquid cream
Preparation
1
Soak the gelatine leaves in very cold water.
2
In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture turns pale.
3
Add the cornstarch and mix.
4
Bring the milk to the boil in a large saucepan with the vanilla seeds and pod. Pour three-quarters of the hot milk into the bowl in a thin stream, whisking constantly, then pour everything back into the saucepan with the remaining milk.
5
Whisk over a medium heat until the cream thickens, about 3 minutes.
6
Transfer to a clean bowl, add the squeezed gelatine and stir to combine.
7
Press cling film directly onto the surface and leave to cool slightly before refrigerating. Ideally, make the pastry cream the evening before — the next day, you will only need to smooth it out and fold in the whipped cream.
8
Once the pastry cream is thoroughly chilled, take it out of the fridge and whisk until completely smooth. Whip the full-fat liquid cream to a chantilly and fold it into the pastry cream in three additions.
9
Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a plain round nozzle (14–16 mm) and refrigerate until assembly.
Breton Shortbread
Ingredients
- 3 egg yolks
- 130 g (4.6 oz) sugar
- 150 g (5.3 oz) softened butter
- 200 g (7.1 oz) flour
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 sachet baking powder
Preparation
1
Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is smooth and pale.
2
Add the softened butter and mix with a spatula until the mixture is smooth and homogeneous.
3
Sift the flour, salt and baking powder over the mixture. Stir with a spatula until just combined.
4
Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours.
5
Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F.
6
Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out between two sheets of baking paper to a thickness of about 4–5 mm.
7
Cut out a disc using a tart ring (18 or 20 cm (7.9 in) diameter). Leave the tart ring in place around the disc.
8
Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Once out of the oven, leave the breton shortbread to cool on a wire rack.
Assembly
Ingredients
- strawberries
- raspberries
- blueberries
- 1 lime
- icing sugar
Preparation
1
Rinse the fruit briefly under cold water.
2
Hull the strawberries and halve them lengthways. Dust the cut sides lightly with icing sugar to make them shine.
3
Take the raspberry confit out of the fridge and whisk it briefly to loosen.
4
Place the breton shortbread on a serving plate.
5
Spread the raspberry confit over the breton shortbread using a small offset spatula or a spoon.
6
Pipe large balls of diplomat cream all around the edge of the tart, then pipe a spiral of cream in the centre.
7
Arrange the strawberries, then the raspberries and finally the blueberries, distributing them attractively.
8
Fill the inside of the raspberries with a little confit, then add a few lime zest shavings.
9
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
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