White Bavarian Strawberry Tart

I called this creation White Bavarian Strawberry Tart because this lovely little number has bavarian cream made with white chocolate.  It is a delicious combination with the strawberries, very light, not too sweet, and fresh.  It is a super combo which I will definitely repeat again!  

Ingredients:

Short pastry crust (recipe below)

White chocolate Bavarian cream (recipe below)

2 cups fresh strawberries

Sugar glaze (recipe below)

Prepare crust and fill half way with white chocolate bavarian cream and let it set in the fridge for about four hours.  

Remove green tops form strawberries and cut lengthwise into thin slices and place pointed sides outwaird in a circle starting from the edges of the tart.  Place the next row slightly overlapping the first row between two strawberries to create a shingle effect. Continue until tart is covered in strawberries.  

Use a pastry brush to cover strawberries with sugar glaze.

Crust

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick plus 1 tbsp (9 tbsp) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
1 large egg yolk

Method

1.Preheat the oven to 375 F (190C) degrees.

2. Pulse flour, sugar and salt in a food processor.

3.Add butter and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal.

4. Stir in the yolk and pulse again until the dough forms clumps and curds.

5. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and very lightly and sparingly, knead just to incorporate dry ingredients.

6.Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Freeze crust at least 30 minutes before baking.

7.Bake blind for 25 minutes, remove the weight and bake for another 10 minutes. Let cool

White Chocolate Bavarian Cream

Bavarian Cream: 
3ozs. best-quality white chocolate, finely chopped 
3/4 c. heavy cream, divided 
1/2Tbsp. unflavored gelatin  
1/8 c. cold water 
3 egg yolks, from eggs graded "medium" 
1/8 c. + 1 Tbsp. sugar 
3/4 c. whole milk, divided 
1 tsp. vanilla 
Ice and cold water

Chill a medium bowl and the beater(s) from a hand-held electric mixer. In small heatproof bowl, place chopped white chocolate. Heat 1/4 c. heavy cream (reserve remainder) in small saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until very hot. Pour about half of hot cream onto chocolate. Place over warm water on low heat (water should not touch bottom of bowl); stir often until melted and smooth.

Gradually whisk in remaining cream. (Note: White chocolate is often stubborn about melting. If you cannot get yours to become smooth, add the rest of the cream as instructed. Whisk to combine, then turn the mixture into a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Cover to keep warm, but do not process yet.) Set aside near stove. 

Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in small cup; stir to combine. Set aside near stove. In medium heatproof bowl, combine egg yolks, sugar, and about 1/8c. milk (reserve remainder). By hand, beat well to combine. In small, heavy saucepan, place remaining milk. Heat over low heat, stirring often, until very hot. Very gradually add hot milk to egg mixture, beating constantly. Turn entire custard mixture back into saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until custard reaches a temperature of 172 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Immediately remove from heat. Now, if your white chocolate mixture wasn't smooth, process it just until there are no lumps left. 

Add this mixture to the cooked custard and stir it in thoroughly (don't forget to scrape the sides of the pot). Add the soaked gelatin and stir it in until the gelatin grains are dissolved (this is easiest to see with a metal spoon). 

Strain the mixture through a fine strainer into a large, nonreactive metal bowl. You'll need another bowl or a frying pan of larger diameter (but not deeper) than the bowl into which you've strained your white chocolate mixture. 

Partially fill the larger container with ice and cold water, and set the bowl of white chocolate custard into it. Gently whisk occasionally; the mixture will begin to thicken after 10-15 minutes. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula from time to time. After mixture begins to thicken, whisk a bit more frequently until white chocolate custard is the approximate consistency of raw egg whites. You do NOT want the custard to set now, so watch it carefully. 

When the white chocolate custard is of the right consistency, whisk well and remove from ice and water. 

In chilled medium bowl with chilled beater(s), beat reserved 1/2 c. heavy cream just until cream forms a soft shape (this is before soft peak stage). Whisk cooled custard well once more to loosen, then quickly but gently and thoroughly fold in softly whipped cream. Don't handle any more than necessary. Mixture will be thin at this stage—OK. Quickly pour into pie crust; spread evenly. with a toothpick, prick any large air bubbles. Place in refrigerator. 

Chill Bavarian cream at least 4 hours before serving.

Sugar glaze

2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons white sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon strawberry flavored gelatin
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Mix together the sugar, water, gelatin and cornstarch in a medium large saucepan. Boil for one minute. Remove from heat.