Fresh Strawberry Tart

By David Tanis

Updated April 8, 2026

  • A beautiful tart topped with strawberries and powdered sugar on a platter. At the bottom corner is a bowl of créme fraîche.
    David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Media 1 of 2
Ready In
5 hrs
(Prep Time: 20 min; Cook Time: 1 hr, plus 3½ hr chilling)
Rating
5(9)
Comments
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A classic French strawberry tart features a buttery pastry shell filled with a light custard and topped with strawberries. This version has an almond base baked in a pastry shell, served with berries and a dollop of crème fraîche on top. Sweet, ripe strawberries are essential. Though one pound is sufficient, buying extra allows you to use only the best specimens, saving overripe or bruised berries to make a little jam. It is easiest to make the tart over two days: Prepare the pastry dough and the almond filling one day, then bake and add berries the next. (For that matter, you can also bake the base the day before serving. It keeps well.)

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Ingredients

Yield:1 (10-inch) tart

For the Pastry

  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons/150 grams all-purpose flour

  • 2 tablespoons sugar

  • Pinch of salt

  • ½ cup/115 grams cold unsalted butter, thinly sliced

  • 1 large egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons ice water

For the Filling

  • ¾ cup/112 grams whole, skin-on almonds

  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

  • ½ cup/100 grams granulated sugar

  • ½ cup/115 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature

  • 2 large eggs, beaten

  • ½ teaspoon almond extract

  • 1 pound/145 grams small, ripe strawberries, stems removed, left whole or halved

  • Powdered sugar

  • Crème fraîche, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

52 grams carbs; 134 milligrams cholesterol; 538 calories; 12 grams monosaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams saturated fat; 33 grams fat; 4 grams fiber; 51 milligrams sodium; 10 grams protein; 21 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Make the pastry: Put flour, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl. Add butter and work in with fingertips. (Alternatively, pulse ingredients in a food processor.) Add egg and knead briefly (or pulse) to make soft, somewhat sticky dough. Wrap in wax paper and squash to make a flat disk. Refrigerate while you make the filling.

  2. Step 2

    Make the almond filling: Put almonds, flour and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind to a rough powder. Add butter, eggs and almond extract, and process until smooth, about 2 minutes. (Alternatively, use coarse almond flour and make filling with a stand mixer or handheld beaters.)

  3. Step 3

    Press dough evenly into a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom, making sure to press the dough firmly up the sides. Refrigerate shell until firm, about 2 hours, or freeze for 30 minutes. Set oven to 375 degrees.

  4. Step 4

    Spoon almond filling into pan and smooth with a spatula. Set on a baking sheet and bake on middle rack of oven until pastry is golden and filling is nicely browned, 30 to 40 minutes. Test the filling: An inserted skewer should emerge clean. Cool completely on a rack.

  5. Step 5

    Remove outer rim of tart pan but leave it on the metal bottom. Place tart on a serving plate.

  6. Step 6

    Arrange whole or halved strawberries over surface of tart. 

  7. Step 7

    Just before serving, dust generously with powdered sugar. Cut into wedges. Serve with crème fraîche on the side.

Tip

  • If you like, you can also use a pastry brush to coat each strawberry with a little warmed and strained apricot or raspberry jam (thinned as necessary) before dusting with powdered sugar.

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5 out of 5
9 user ratings
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Comments

Melissa

I’m not sure Megan and JL’s replies are helpful. I would imagine the almond flour is replacing the whole almonds, not the 1 T. of AP flour.

Baker

When you say (Alternatively, use coarse almond flour and make filling with a stand mixer or handheld beaters.) what is the substitution exactly? Flour for flour, flour for flour and almonds?

Cheri

I would almost certainly try substituting 112 g. of almond flour for the almonds only, keeping the rest of the filling ingredients, including the AP flour, as written.

Eve

It’s minus 2 C outside so it is not strawberry season. I will wait until June when local strawberries are available.

Returned Expat

when you say you can “bake the base” the day before, do you mean the tart shell (like blind bake) or the tart shell and custard?

Habeas

After making this once: 1) Switch the order of steps 2 and 3 - no need to leave the filling sitting on the counter for two hours while the tart crust chills! 2) in Step Two, if you're going to use almond flour instead, simply replace the listed ingredients with 3/4 c plus 1 TBSP almond flour. 3) Once it has chilled about 15-20 minutes, you can roll out the tart crust into a disk a little larger than the size of your tart pan and it will make putting the crust in the pan MUCH easier.

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