The irresistible combination of strawberry and lemon is a taste most of us love to savor. This sweet and tart pairing isn’t reserved for strawberry lemonade served in a cup either. The flavor combination works wonders in cupcakes, sophisticated crepe cake, custard tarts, etc. etc. With the fact that we can readily buy strawberries year round, doesn’t make them any less special.
I’m not sure if you recall that fabulous glazed fresh strawberry pie from years ago …. so addicting! It consisted of a crisp crust filled only with fresh strawberries held together by a thickened fruit juice glaze. It was the quintessential summer dessert back in the day. A lady by the name of Claire Moore created this pie in 1954 in the USA. She shared the recipe with her husband, former ‘Eat’n Park‘ CEO Bob Moore, and the rest is history! This regional diner chain began during the days of the 1950’s car hops when everyone thought it was real cool to park and eat right in their hot rods. Today they’re a family restaurant and coffee shop chain still serving their signature fresh glazed strawberry pie.
To make a long story short, it was the memory of that dessert that made me think of doing these strawberry custard tarts for today’s blog.
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Strawberry Custard Tarts w/ Lemon Curd
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Rating: 5
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Lemon Curd
In a medium sauce pan over low heat, whisk together butter, sugar, lemon juice, zest and salt until combined. Add eggs one at a time, whisking until fully mixed each time. Cook over low heat about 8-9 minutes, whisking frequently, until somewhat thickened. Remove from heat and cool completely. Chill in the fridge until ready to use.
Crust
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In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt until fully combined. Add the cubed butter, and using either a pastry blender or two forks, cut the butter into the mixture until the pieces are around the size of a pea. Pour in the vanilla extract, and cold water. Stir until the dough clumps together.
Move the dough to a floured surface and fold the dough into itself until the flour is incorporated (if it is too sticky, add some more flour to the surface or your hands) and forms a ball. Divide the dough into quarters and pat each one down into four discs, about ½ inch thick. Wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes to an hour.
Remove the dough from fridge. Roll it out into 5-inch circles on a lightly floured surface and use to line four 4-inch tart pans. Crimp the edges as desired.
Prick the bottoms with a fork. Line the chilled dough crusts with parchment paper and fill each with baking beans. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the paper and beans. Remove from heat and let them cool completely.
Filling & Assembly
Whisk the eggs, sugar, and vanilla extract together and then stir in the honey yogurt. Place the strawberries on top of the cooled crusts. Pour the filling over the strawberries.
Baking
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until crust is golden and custard filling is set. Cool for 5 minutes, drizzle with lemon curd, and serve.
Recipe Notes
- There are numerous good quality lemon curds on the market if you would rather not make it from scratch since it is only used for drizzling.
MENU
WILD MUSHROOM & GOUDA QUICHE — SHRIMP & VEGETABLE QUICHE
FRESH SPINACH SALAD — FRUIT KABOBS & HONEY YOGURT
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Summer Picnic Menu #2
Quiche is great whether it is served hot or cold making it a nice picnic meal.
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Rating: 5
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Ingredients
Wild Mushroom & Gouda Quiche
- 1-9" 'deep dish' pastry shell, thawed
- 2 Tbsp margarine
- 1 green onion, sliced
- 454 grams wild mushroom 'blend' (enoki, crimini, oyster, portobello, button)
- 2 tsp garlic, minced
- 2 cups broccoli florets,
- 1/3 cup red pepper
- 2 Tbsp bacon bits
- 100 grams Gouda cheese (smoked or plain), shredded
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp thyme, dried
- 1 1/2 tsp salt (adjust to your preference)
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Shrimp & Vegetable Quiche
- 1-9" 'deep dish' pastry shell, thawed
- 340 grams frozen shrimp, cooked & thawed
- 1 1/2 cups fresh broccoli, chopped
- 3/4 cup red pepper, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 40 grams Italian cheese blend, shredded
- 70 grams cheddar cheese, shredded
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp fresh basil 'paste'
- 1/2 tsp EACH dry mustard, dill weed, garlic powder, & onion powder
- 1 tsp vegetable salt OR regular if you prefer
Fruit Kabobs with Honey Yogurt Dip
Ingredients
Wild Mushroom & Gouda Quiche
- 1-9" 'deep dish' pastry shell, thawed
- 2 Tbsp margarine
- 1 green onion, sliced
- 454 grams wild mushroom 'blend' (enoki, crimini, oyster, portobello, button)
- 2 tsp garlic, minced
- 2 cups broccoli florets,
- 1/3 cup red pepper
- 2 Tbsp bacon bits
- 100 grams Gouda cheese (smoked or plain), shredded
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp thyme, dried
- 1 1/2 tsp salt (adjust to your preference)
- 1/2 tsp pepper
Shrimp & Vegetable Quiche
- 1-9" 'deep dish' pastry shell, thawed
- 340 grams frozen shrimp, cooked & thawed
- 1 1/2 cups fresh broccoli, chopped
- 3/4 cup red pepper, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 40 grams Italian cheese blend, shredded
- 70 grams cheddar cheese, shredded
- 3 eggs
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1 tsp fresh basil 'paste'
- 1/2 tsp EACH dry mustard, dill weed, garlic powder, & onion powder
- 1 tsp vegetable salt OR regular if you prefer
Fruit Kabobs with Honey Yogurt Dip
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Instructions
Wild Mushroom & Gouda Quiche
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Preheat oven to 350 F. Slice green onion & mushrooms. Saute in margarine; add garlic, stirring often. Allow to cook for 5 minutes uncovered so moisture will evaporate. Cut broccoli into florets; add to pan along with red pepper & bacon bits. Cook another 6 minutes; remove from heat. Whisk together eggs, milk & seasonings.
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Sprinkle 1/2 of the Gouda cheese in quiche shell. Top with vegetable mixture; then remaining Gouda. Gently pour seasoned egg/milk mixture over all. Bake about 40 minutes or until quiche tests done. Since quiche is made with milk instead of cream (to lighten up on the calories) it tales a bit longer to bake.
Shrimp & Vegetable Quiche
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Preheat oven to 350 F. Microwave vegetables ONLY, for a few minutes to soften SLIGHTLY; lay on paper towel along with thawed shrimp to take up some of the moisture. Whisk together eggs, milk & seasonings.
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Sprinkle Italian cheese blend over bottom of quiche shell. Top with shrimp, vegetables & cheddar cheese. Gently pour seasoned egg/milk mixture over all. Bake on middle rack for 50-60 minutes or until just 'set'. Cover crust with foil, if necessary, to prevent over browning.
Fresh Spinach Salad
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In a large salad bowl, combine salad ingredients. Toss with salad dressing just before serving time or let each person put their own on at the picnic.
Fresh Fruit Kabobs with Honey Yogurt
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In a small bowl, combine yogurt & honey (cinnamon if using). Prepare fresh fruit of choice, cutting into bite size cubes. Thread onto 8" wooden skewers. Place in serving container along with sealed container of honey-yogurt dip.
Recipe Notes
- If you prefer, quiche can be made individually for easy serving.
What’s not to love about fresh cherries?! Besides having a wonderful taste, they have many health benefits as well. In Alberta, we start seeing cherries in the grocery stores about early June. For most part they come from British Columbia, Canada. Of course, ‘Bing’ is probably the most widely known variety because of it’s size and sweetness. As the ‘season’ rolls along, the price comes down somewhat but what fruit lover could resist them?
In an earlier blog, I mentioned that Brion and I had spent three months in Cuenca, Ecuador in 2015. At some point, during that time, the street vendors chants rang through Cuenca’s streets encouraging passersby to purchase their in-season, pick-of-the-crop fresh cherries. A half of a kilo (a little over a pound) sold for 1 to 2 dollars, depending on the vendor and the time of day. CERAZAS! CERAZAS! CERAZAS! was the mantra as they navigated ‘wheel borrows’through Cuenca’s streets broad and narrow. As long as they were available, we always made sure we would buy some on our way back from our daily walks.
About four years ago we planted a northern cherry tree, called ‘Cupid’ in our back yard. It would be classed as a sour or semi-sweet cherry. Although it is very young and doing well, it will be a while before we will have a wheel borrow full of cherries from it.
There are lots of great fresh cherry scone recipes it seems. Even so, why not try to tweek the recipe yet again. Hope you enjoy this version with some of those fresh cherries.
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Fresh Cherry Almond Scones
Fresh cherry scones with almond-anise flavor.
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
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Instructions
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In a blender or food processor, pulse almonds until coarsely ground. Add oatmeal & anise seed; repeat process for a few more seconds. Add flour, sugar, baking powder & salt; whirl only until combined. Add margarine & pulse slightly, transfer to a large bowl.
In a small bowl, beat together yogurt, egg & almond flavoring. Combine wet & dry ingredients, mixing only until just mixed.
On a sheet of parchment paper, pat or roll the dough into a 12" square. Place cherry halves evenly over the dough, pressing in gently. Using the parchment, fold 1/3 of dough over, then repeat with opposite side of dough. Pinch seams together. Place log seam side down and flatten into a long rectangle using your palms, approximately 12" x 4". Using a sharp knife cut 14 wedges.
Space out on parchment paper or transfer to a new sheet on baking pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until test done.
Recipe Notes
- Cherries can be carefully folded into batter and then scooped onto baking sheet instead of making wedges if you prefer.
