TWD- La Palette’s Strawberry Tart

I'm sure no one would guess this... but I LOVE strawberries. A few weeks ago I was eating some perfect strawberries and thinking, "Wouldn't a Dorie treat with strawberries be just perfect?" So when I saw that Marie (love her) had chosen La Palette's Strawberry Tart I seriously jumped out of my chair which made my husband laugh and look at me like I was crazy. He changed his mind when he ate this, though, let me tell you.

Last time I made this crust, I tried making it by hand. It didn't work at all, even though I always make my crusts by hand. I guess it's because this is more of a cookie crust instead of a flaky pie crust (see Dorie's comment). This time, I busted out my mom's awesome 1 1/2 Cup Chefmate Mini Processor and had at it. This processor is so great, let me tell you, that I'm waking up EARLY tomorrow to haul the baby down to Macy's to buy the Cuisinart 11 Cup FP that's on sale for a special early bird event. Anyways, I made three half batches of the crust and put them all together into my big pie tart (One recipe didn't cover the whole 11 inch pan). I froze the crust over night and popped it in the oven on Sunday morning. It came out perfectly and wow it smelled SO good. Sometimes I think the dough is better than the finished product and I'm a little disappointed- this time they were both amazing!

Next, I added a thin layer of strawberry preserves. I bought some at Trader Joe's that were cheap and delicious. Love that store.

It came to me that a little rebellion would be a good idea. Instead of just sticking to the jam and berries, I made a batch of Pastry Cream and smoothed it over the jam. I love Dorie's pastry cream. Wow.

Next I poured on my strawberries that I had halved and tossed in a few tablespoons of sugar (no liqueur around here). They were so shiny and delicious that I might have snitched a few.

A quick dusting of powdered sugar and this baby was beautiful and ready to go. I took her to dinner with the fam and my cousin who lived in Paris told me that it tasted just like the pastries she ate there! I was so flattered. So there you go, I never thought it would be possible to make pastries like they do in Paris (and boy, I still miss those, and it's been five years almost to the day since I left Paris) but this was pretty dang close.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Tuesdays with Dorie group's interpretation of Dorie Greenspan's La Palette's Strawberry Tart. And once again, buy the book already!