Equipment
Ingredients
Shortbread Dough
- 200 g unsalted butter, slightly softened
- 90 g icing sugar, sifted
- 260 g all-purpose flour
- 40 g cornstarch
- 2 g fine sea salt
- 5 ml vanilla bean paste
Strawberry Mascarpone Cream
- 150 g mascarpone cheese, chilled
- 150 ml heavy whipping cream, chilled
- 40 g icing sugar
- 100 g fresh strawberries, finely diced
- 2 g lemon zest
Assembly
- 6 fresh strawberries, halved or quartered
- fresh mint leaves, small leaves
Nutrition (per serving)
Method
Sift the all-purpose flour, cornstarch, and salt together into a medium bowl to ensure even distribution and remove lumps.
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter, 90g icing sugar, and vanilla bean paste on medium-low speed just until smooth and combined. Do not aerate or whip until fluffy, as this causes the cookies to spread.
Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix on low speed briefly until the dough starts to clump together. Finish bringing the dough together by hand to avoid overworking the gluten.
Roll the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of 6mm (1/4 inch). Slide the parchment onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm up.
Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F. Remove dough from fridge, peel off top parchment, and cut into rounds using a 6cm cutter. Arrange rounds on a lined baking sheet with 2cm spacing. Chill the cut rounds again for 15 minutes before baking.
Bake for 12-15 minutes at 160°C/320°F until the edges are barely set and very pale golden. They should remain mostly pale. Allow to cool completely on the tray before moving, as they are very fragile when hot.
While shortbread cools, prepare the cream. Place cold mascarpone, cold heavy cream, 40g icing sugar, and lemon zest in a chilled bowl. Whip until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the 100g of finely diced strawberries into the cream mixture with a spatula. Ensure the strawberry pieces were patted dry to prevent the cream from seizing or weeping.
Transfer the strawberry cream to a piping bag with a star nozzle. Pipe a generous rosette or mound of cream onto each cooled shortbread round.
Top each cream mound with a fresh strawberry half and a small mint leaf. Serve immediately.
Chef's Notes
- To achieve the 'sablé' (sandy) texture, use cornstarch in the dough; it inhibits gluten formation and creates a tender crumb.
- Do not over-bake. Shortbread should be pale. If it turns brown, the delicate butter flavor changes to a caramel flavor, which is delicious but not intended for this profile.
- Assemble these as close to serving time as possible. The moisture from the cream will eventually soften the crisp shortbread (though they are still delicious after 2 hours).
Storage
Refrigerator: 2 days — Store components separately. Assembled tarts soften within 4 hours.
Freezer: 1 month — Raw dough discs can be frozen. Do not freeze the strawberry cream.
