Strawberry & Elderflower Tartlets signify Midsummer to me.
Yep, Midsummer Eve is exactly a week from now! This might sound crazy, but once the sun starts shining, you can literally feel that Midsummer is just around the corner. The days are getting longer, people are getting more relax and tons of fruit-stands popup in major street corners – which is one of the things I LOVE about summer. 🙂
Some of these fruits are imported from Greece, Morocco, Spain, south of Europe, basically. But NOT the berries. The berries are grown in Sweden – and these include all types.
The berries are so fresh and fragrant that even if you don’t plan on buying any, the moment you pass by the kiosk, you smell the air ripe with their sweetness, and before you know it, you’ve got two plastics of various kinds (Yep, I am guilty as charged. 😀 ).
Strawberry & Elderflower Tartlets is ALWAYS the one that I make first, and often, during this season. The other kind of berries, I prefer to use them in cakes.
The first time I tasted elderflower, it was quite a revelation to me.
It was light, refreshing and a bit lemony, but quite subtle. Combined with strawberries, the result is just pure bliss. (Seriously!).
I can make this into a regular 8-inch tart pan, not a problem.
But I prefer them as tartlets – makes it easier for serving and eating. It has nothing to do with eating less of it. To be honest, a couple of these tartlets is my default serving – for myself. (I know! It’s summer anyway…?). Once I bite on the third one, then I start thinking maybe I already had too much (NOT!) 😉
If you’ve been wondering all this time which Swedish dessert or pastry to try, I strongly urge you to start with strawberry & elderflower tartlets.
If you’re having a hard time looking for elderflower concentrate, go to your nearest IKEA store, they always have it in the supermarket section – and look for ‘Fläderblomsaft’. (Geeze, that sounded like a TV commercial, eh?!). Just try it! 😀
WANT MORE TART IDEAS? THEN CHECK OUT MY TARTS COLLECTION!
FOR MORE SWEDISH RECIPES, CHECK OUT Swedish Sweets for You to Try!
OR IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR MORE RECIPES WITH FRUITS, YOU MIGHT LIKE THESE POSTS –
Ingredients
- 150 grams all-purpose flour
- 80 grams sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 100 grams unsalted butter, chilled & cut into cubes
- 4 egg yolks (separate into 1 & 3 yolks)
- 2 tbsp corn starch
- 150 ml cream
- 150 ml elderflower juice, concentrate
- 20 pcs fresh strawberries, medium-sized, halved
- unsalted butter for greasing tins
Instructions
- Generously grease the tartlet tins with unsalted butter.
- In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt and 1 egg yolk. Mix. Add chilled butter and pulse until pea-like sizes of dough have formed. (You can also mix this by hand).
- Form the dough into a ball and divide evenly into 10 pieces. Arrange each piece of dough into the greased tartlet tin and place in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes to chill.
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (400-degrees F).
- Place the tartlet tins in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the pastry has slightly turned brownish in color.
- Take the tins out of the oven and set aside. Once the tins are cool enough to handle, remove the cooked pastry from the tins and set aside.
- In a medium sized pan, combine 3 egg yolks and cornstarch and mix evenly (use a whisk). Add cream and elderflower juice, and whisk some more. Bring the cream to a boil. Lower the heat and whisk continuously until it has turned into a thick cream. Set aside to cool.
- Once pastry and cream are both completely cooled, spoon some cream in the pastry. Place some halved strawberries on top to cover the cream.
- Serve (or place in the refrigerator for an hour, if you prefer to serve them cold).
Leave a Reply