Description
Delight in these elegant Strawberry White Balsamic Caramel Tarts featuring a buttery tart shell, luscious white balsamic caramel, airy whipped cream, and fresh strawberries arranged beautifully for a stunning dessert.
Ingredients
Scale
Tart Dough
- 1 cup all purpose flour (125 g)
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch pieces (110 g)
- 1 tablespoon cold water
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract
Caramel
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
Strawberry and Cream Filling
- 1 cup whipping cream (230 g)
- 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 pounds strawberries
Instructions
- Prepare Tart Dough: Combine flour, dark brown sugar, salt, and lemon zest in a food processor and pulse to mix. Add cold butter pieces and pulse until the mixture has pea-sized pieces of butter. Mix cold water, vanilla extract, and almond extract and drizzle it over, pulsing until coarse crumbs form but no dough ball forms.
- Shape and Chill Tart Shells: Turn dough onto plastic wrap and form a disk about 1 inch thick. Add drops of water if it doesn't stick. On a lightly floured surface, press dough into the bottoms and sides of six 4-inch tart tins with removable bottoms. Refrigerate tart tins while preheating the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Bake Tart Shells: Line the dough with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and weights, then bake an additional 15 minutes until golden brown. Remove and cool completely.
- Make Caramel Sauce: In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine sugar and ¼ cup water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, heat the whipping cream in a separate small saucepan to a simmer and then keep warm on low heat. Cook sugar mixture until dark amber, about 8 minutes, being careful not to burn. Remove from heat and slowly add warm cream, stirring as it bubbles vigorously. Stir in butter until melted, then add white balsamic vinegar and set aside to cool to room temperature.
- Prepare Strawberry Whipped Cream: In a mixer bowl, whip cream, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla extract to soft peaks. Hull and thinly slice strawberries vertically about ¼ inch thick.
- Assemble Tarts: Pour a spoonful of the cooled caramel into each tart shell bottom. Fill shells with whipped cream, then top by arranging sliced strawberries in concentric circles. Serve immediately or refrigerate covered up to three days.
Notes
- Use cold butter and cold water to ensure a flaky tart crust.
- If dough is too dry, add water one teaspoon at a time until it holds together.
- Pie weights prevent tart shells from puffing during blind baking.
- Be cautious not to burn the caramel as it cooks quickly at the end.
- Serve tarts on the day they are assembled for best freshness.
- Substitute white balsamic vinegar with regular balsamic for a slightly different flavor.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 tart
- Calories: 410 kcal
- Sugar: 28 g
- Sodium: 85 mg
- Fat: 25 g
- Saturated Fat: 15 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 40 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 80 mg
