Scrumptious Strawberry and Almond Tartlets Recipe

Add the 4 eggs to the flour mixture. Start bringing the dough together with a wooden spoon, then switch to your hands, working it until it forms a ball. This dough is quite sticky; if it's too difficult to handle, add a small amount of flour, no more than 1 or 2 tablespoons, to avoid diluting the sweetness or making the dough tough. Knead it briefly, just 2 or 3 times, on a cool surface. Wrap the dough ball in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, or ideally overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 180°C / 350°F. Grease each of your tartlet cases thoroughly; a piece of buttered greaseproof paper works well. On a floured surface, roll out the pastry until it's about 2mm to 3mm thick. Use your cutter to cut out circles, re-rolling scraps as needed.

Carefully but firmly press the pastry discs into their metal cases, ensuring they sit evenly and come slightly over the top edge. Avoid pressing too much, which can make the pastry too thin. Prick the base of each pastry case all over with a fork.

Heat the 500 ml milk in a pan (preferably not non-stick) with the remaining caster sugar and 4 drops vanilla extract. Watch it closely, and just as it begins to boil, remove the pan from the heat.

Pour about two-thirds of the hot milk into the egg and sugar mixture, whisking quickly with a metal whisk for about 1 minute. Then, add the rest of the milk and continue whisking quite firmly until everything is smooth and evenly incorporated.

Once both the pastry cases and the crème pâtissière are cool, place about 1 tablespoon of crème pâtissière into the bottom of each pastry case and spread it evenly. You can use a piping bag for this, or simply spread it with a knife. Spoon some of the strawberry filling over the crème pâtissière, then top each tartlet with a quartered 6 strawberries. If you like, dust with a little extra icing sugar before serving.

This final section provides some useful tips and variations for the tartlets.

Consider serving these tartlets with a dollop of crème fraîche or mascarpone on the side. If you have any leftover pastry dough, you can freeze it for future use.

To manage the various components of this recipe, it's helpful to make the pastry the day before and chill it overnight. You can then roll out and line the tartlet cases, chilling them again while the oven preheats. Prepare the crème pâtissière while the tartlets bake, and make the strawberry and almond filling as everything cools.