Strawberry Ricotta Tart

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When I saw this recipe the other night, I said to myself, YEP. Making that. There wasn’t even a question in my mind.

I made the dough last night and left it in the fridge to set overnight. Then, when I got off work at the bakery tonight, I came home and rolled it out.

If your dough is tough, I would recommend letting it sit a while and mellow out before you try to roll it. I jumped the gun, and let’s just say that more flour ended up on my carpet than I’d care to admit.

Once you get your dough rolled out, you “dock” it with a fork. Those were the directions in the original recipe and I literally had no idea what she was talking about. But it’s basically poking holes all over a piece of dough, kind of like you would to a sweet potato before you roast it in the oven.

After that, you brush the crust with some egg wash and put it in the oven. Bake it until it turns dark golden brown and then take it out of the oven and let it cool.

Then, the magic happens. You spread some sweetened ricotta/yogurt on top, put some dollops of strawberry jam on the ricotta and then add the sliced strawberries.

I used a pizza cutter to divide the tart into pieces. When I ate the first forkful, I knew that I had done it right. The crust was tart from the rye flour and slightly salty, the ricotta yogurt was cool and sweet, and the strawberries added the perfect amount of sweetness. I love the way the crust crumbled under my fork like a cookie.

The blogger who shared this recipe said that you’d have to stop yourself from eating three slices in one sitting. She was so right. I managed to stop after two, but I saved one in the fridge for breakfast tomorrow morning.

I’ve been feeling kind of nostalgic lately and so when this song came up on my playlist, it felt right. I used to sing it all the time at summer camp when I was little.

Strawberry Ricotta Tart (slightly adapted from Top With Cinnamon

Ingredients

for the crust:
80g (2/3 cup) plain (all purpose) flour
80g (2/3 cup) rye flour
2 tsp granulated sugar
½ tsp salt
125g (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp) unsalted butter, very cold, cubed
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 to 5 tbsp ice water
1 egg, beaten

for the topping:
200g (7oz) ricotta cheese (see note)
2 tbsp full fat yogurt (see note)
2 tbsp of sugar, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
~450g (1 pound) small strawberries, rinsed
3 tbsp apricot or strawberry jam

Directions

Combine the flours, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter cubes and rub them into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until the mixture has the texture of damp sand with some pea-sized lumps of butter remaining.

Stir the apple cider vinegar into 5 tbsp of ice water. Drizzle 3 tbsp of the water over the dry ingredients in the bowl and gently stir together with your hands until the dough starts to come together. Squeeze a bit of the mixture in your fist – if it comes together it’s perfect. If it seems to dry to stick together, drizzle in a bit more water, mix and test again. Form into a rough ball.

Tip the contents of the bowl out onto a piece of plastic wrap and bring any crumbs into the ball of dough. Pat down into a disk, wrap in the plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 200 C (400F). Cut a piece of baking paper to fit the size of your baking tray. Place the baking paper onto a work surface and roll the dough out on it into a rough oval or rectangle (just under 2mm/ ¼-inch thick). Transfer the baking paper and dough onto the baking tray. Dock all over with a fork and brush with beaten egg.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until dark golden all over. Check on the pastry halfway through the baking time – if there are any air bubbles flatten them with a spatula. Let the pastry cool completely.

Meanwhile slice the strawberries (I cut mine into 3 or 4 slices each) and toss with 1 tbsp of sugar in a bowl. Set aside.

In another bowl mix the ricotta & yogurt (or mascarpone), sugar and vanilla extract.
Once the crust is cooled, frost it with the ricotta mixture then dot with the jam and decorate with the strawberry slices (arranged overlapping in lines). Slice the tart and serve immediately.

About Emily Wasserman

Bonjour! My name is Emily and I'm a writer based in St. Louis. I'm also a home baker with a small business, Amélie Bakery. I'm a self-proclaimed francophile and love French pastries and baking.
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