“The trick is…” Cyril Lignac reveals his secret to making truly divine strawberry tartlets

Every morning, from Monday to Friday, the French favorite chef delivers to us, at the microphone of RTL, his best tips and gourmet recipes. Today, Cyril Lignac is tackling a pillar of pastry: the strawberry tart. It’s all in lightness that he decides to revisit it through tangy tartlets.

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

1. Start by rolling out the ready-made or homemade dough and cut out 4 small discs with a cookie cutter. Place them in previously buttered tart bases, grate some lemon zest and cover them with baking paper and weights. “I like to put lemon zest in the dough because when we cook it, we will already have this first aroma,” explains the chef. Bake the tart bases for 10 minutes at 180°. Then remove the leaves and cook for an additional 5 minutes so that the tart shells can brown. Cyril Lignac recommends cooking the dough slowly and for a long time so that it is “roasted and very crunchy”.
2. To stay fresh and delicious, now make a slightly lemony custard by starting by heating the milk in a saucepan. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a bowl. Then add the cornstarch and lemon juice and whisk again. Pour the boiling milk over the preparation while mixing, then pour everything into the same saucepan and return to cook. Boil for about 2 minutes, until the cream thickens, while whisking. Once ready, spread the cream in a dish then place it in the refrigerator.
3. To dress, hull the strawberries, then cut them into quarters. Whip the cold pastry cream and the vanilla whipped cream and garnish the tartlets. Place the strawberry wedges and a few basil leaves on top and enjoy!

Strawberries, whether damaged or not, are delicious. So there’s no question of throwing them away. Instead, make a cold soup by mixing them with lemon juice, mint and cane sugar, or a coulis by proceeding in the same way and adding water to correct the texture.