Fresh Strawberry Cream Tart With Yogurt Whipped Cream

This fresh strawberry cream tart is the easiest summer tart you can make and an ode to strawberries and cream. The base of the tart is just a big shortbread cookie topped with yogurt whipped cream and a mound of strawberries. This strawberry tart is proof that elegant desserts don't have to be complicated.

If you are looking to truly showcase strawberries this season, this strawberry cream tart is for you! This dessert is very simple to make with an easy shortbread cookie crust, whipped cream, and lots of strawberries.

The ratio used for this crust is high in butter, just like for the jam-filled shortbread cookies because we want a crust that is tender and easy to slice, which means we need equal parts butter and flour by weight. This is quite different than the traditional crunchy shortbread with a 1-2-3 ratio where you have 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter, and 3 parts flour by weight.

Jump to:

• What You Need To Make The Best Strawberry Cream Tart
• Substitutions And Variations
• Instructions
• Top Tip
• Baking Recipe FAQs
• Other Tarts To Bake
• 📖 Recipe

What You Need To Make The Best Strawberry Cream Tart

For this strawberry cream tart recipe, you will be making a big shortbread cookie in a tart pan, yogurt whipped cream, and macerated fresh strawberries before assembling the tart.

Here's what you need to make this strawberry tart recipe:

• butter—use unsalted butter, though salted could work as we aren't using much in this recipe. You may omit the salt in the cookie dough if you bake with salted butter
• sugar—icing sugar makes the shortbread tart crust more tender and fine and the whipped cream topping much smoother than granulated would
• vanilla extract—use pure vanilla extract if you can for a gentler flavour
• flour—all-purpose works well in this recipe and I wouldn't substitute another
• salt to balance out the sweetness of this dessert—I bake with Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, which is less salty than regular table salt. Adjust accordingly if you use table salt instead
• maple syrup—to macerate the berries and lightly sweeten them
• whipping cream—full fat 35 % whipping cream so that the topping is more stable and thick
• yogurt—specifically Greek yogurt which has less water. Please opt for yogurt that has at least 2 % fat for better taste and creamier texture
• fresh strawberries—I prefer to bake with local seasonal strawberries whenever possible because they are smaller and more flavourful
• herbs—fresh basil or mint leaves work great to garnish strawberry recipes

Please read the recipe card for more information on quantities and ingredients.

Substitutions And Variations

Here are a few ways to tweak this recipe. Remember that any drastic changes beyond these may require more testing.

• Yogurt:
  • mascarpone cheese—replace the yogurt with full-fat mascarpone
  • plain whipped cream: replace the yogurt with extra whipping cream if you aren't a fan of yogurt and its tangy flavour
  • vanilla pastry cream: you can use the pastry cream filling from this fruit tart recipe instead of the whipped cream filling
• Whipped cream flavouring—along with vanilla extract, you can also add a little citrus zest (either orange or lemon), or even replace the vanilla with a sweet flavoured liqueur, like Amaretto or Grand Marnier.
• Strawberries—try another berry, like blackberries or raspberries, depending on what's in season and available!
• Fresh herbs—instead of garnishing with mint or basil, you can also sprinkle with chopped toasted almonds for a strawberry almond tart or pistachios for a strawberry pistachio version.

Tip: use fresh strawberries in season! This is not a good recipe for frozen berries, which will become very soft and lose a lot of water when defrosted. If you must use frozen strawberries, you will have to cook them into a compote or even strawberry jam and drizzle that over the cream instead!

Instructions

There are three components to this strawberry tart recipe: making the shortbread cookie crust (using the creaming mixing method), macerating the strawberries, and whipping the cream.

Cool the crust before assembling! Make sure to cool the shortbread tart crust completely before spreading the whipped cream over top. If you don't, the whipped cream will melt and the fats will loosen, making the filling more liquidy and creating a messy look and a soggy bottom.

Proportions for the yogurt whipped cream: I used 60 mL (¼ cup) of Greek yogurt for 125 mL (½ cup) of whipping cream, so 1 part Greek yogurt to 2 parts whipping cream. The rule of thumb for sweetening whipped cream is to use 10 % of the weight of the cream, so in this case, we used about 10 % of the total weight of yogurt and cream combined.

Baking Recipe FAQs

Other Tarts To Bake

Looking for other beautiful tart recipes like this? Try these:

If you tried this recipe for the best chewy chocolate chip cookies (or any other recipe on my website), please leave a ⭐ star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below. I love hearing from you!

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