Strawberry tart

Babiche Martens

Pastry

180 g	Butter, (chilled and diced)
1 Tbsp	Caster sugar
240 g	Flour
1	Egg
2 tsp	Water, (iced, approximately)

Pastry

1	Vanilla bean, (split)
2 cups	Whole milk
5	Eggs, (yolks)
¾ cup	Caster sugar
50 g	Cornflour
1 cup	Strawberries, (sliced)
1 to dust	Icing sugar

Directions

1. To make the pastry, put the butter, sugar and flour into a food processor and pulse until it resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Whisk the egg and iced water together then add with the motor running.
3. As soon as the mixture holds together stop the machine, remove the pastry and wrap in plastic wrap before refrigerating for at least 1 hour.
4. To make the pastry cream, heat the milk with the vanilla bean in a saucepan.
5. Whisk the yolks, sugar and cornflour together until thick then pour on the hot milk and continue whisking until smooth.
6. Rinse out the saucepan before returning the mixture to it then stir continuously over a medium heat until thick and smooth.
7. Pour through a strainer into a bowl and press plastic wrap on the surface to prevent a skin forming. Refrigerate.
8. The vanilla bean can be washed and dried for later use or popped into the sugar jar.
9. Preheat the oven to 180C. Roll out the pastry to line a 22cm loose-bottomed flan or tart tin. Let rest for 15 minutes before baking blind for 15 minutes.
10. When the pastry case is cold, fill with the pastry cream, top with strawberries and dust with icing sugar.