Strawberries are in season again so summer must be upon us!

Is there anything sweeter or more delicate than a ripe strawberry? When I was younger the ultimate treat was picking a punnet of fresh strawberries, stewing them in a little sugar water mix and then devouring them in the sun. To be honest that still seems like a pretty wonderful way to spend an afternoon…

Today I have combined this childhood love with my current love (cooking) and have created this simply delicious white chocolate and strawberry tart for us all to enjoy. It comprises of a buttery, crumbly shortcrust pastry base filled with the rich and creamy white chocolate ganache and topped with a selection of summer berries. White chocolate can be in danger of becoming too saccharine but the tartness of the fruit acts as a foil to the sugar and produces this perfectly balanced dessert.

Although I am usually an advocate of making everything from scratch I have cheated slightly and used shop brought pastry as it is so convenient and makes this such an easy pudding to whip up. Feel free to make your own however as home made is always better, plus you know exactly what has gone into it. I have topped my tart with strawberries and blueberries but any summer fruits would be beautiful – blackberries, raspberries, peaches etc. Take this recipe as a starting post or a spark of inspiration and make it your own – it is what all the best chefs do!

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Chilling time: 4 hours +

Ingredients

• 1 320 g sheet of shortcrust pastry
• 400 g white chocolate
• 370 ml double cream
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 handful of strawberries, finely sliced
• 1 handful of berries,
• 3 mint leaves, finely sliced

Method

1. In a small pan melt 1 tbsp of butter and use a pastry brush to coat the inside of an approximately 23 cm tart tin. Place this in the freezer for five minutes until the butter has set and chilled.
2. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C.
3. Dust a clean surface with a little flour and roll the pastry out until it is a few mm thick. Remove the tin from the freezer and carefully line it with the pastry – make sure that you push it down into the corners. Leaving 2 inches extra pastry at the top (as the pastry restricts in the oven) cut the excess pastry off. Line the pastry with baking parchment and fill it with cooking beans. Place in the oven to cook for 15 minutes.
4. Break the chocolate up into small shards, do the same with the butter and place both in a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until it is just before boiling point and then pour it over the chocolate. Leave the mixture to sit for about five minutes before stirring it together gently with a metal spoon. All the chocolate should melt and combine with the cream and the mixture should be glossy.
5. Remove the tart base from the oven and carefully remove the beans and parchment before leaving it to cool for a few minutes. Pour the chocolate mixture into the tart base until it is nearly full (you should be able to see a thin rim of pastry around the top). Put this in the fridge to set for at least four hours.
6. When you are ready to serve your tart lay the fruit over it and sprinkle over the mint leaves for an extra pop of colour and flavour.

Thank you so much for reading this post, I hope that you enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think in the comments as I love hearing from you and do not forget to follow me on Instagram, Facebook and on this blog to see more recipes and foodie musings from me. The link to do both can be found below if on a tablet/ phone or in the side bar if on a computer. I have also recently joined Pinterest so follow me on there for even more foodie inspiration – my username is Wish to Dish.