Beautiful Strawberry Rose Pastry with Lemon Custard

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This beautiful strawberry rose pastry is perfect to celebrate Mother’s Day, to surprise your guest at a party or simply to enjoy your kids’ wow for a special breakfast or snack.

It looks professional bakery made and it’s very simple to prepare at home 🙂

I divided the recipe into three steps:

1. Lemon Custard
2. Pastry
3. Rose

Each step has many shortcuts and substitutions that I will share with you to make it even easier.

LEMON CUSTARD

Let’s start from my favorite. The custard. For this recipe I modified the traditional Italian custard using tapioca flour for a more gelatinous result and lemon for a citrusy twist.

Let’s start whisking the eggs with the sugar in a medium bowl for 2 minutes up until the mix is fluffy and airy. Add the tapioca flour and keep whisking to obtain a smooth light cream.

In a saucepan heat the milk with the lemon peels at medium heat, up until the milk forms bubbles on the edges, it’s hot but not boiling. Turn the heat off, remove the lemon peel and slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mix bowl. Whisk to combine the ingredients.

Transfer the batter back in the saucepan, turn the heat on at medium/low heat and whisk regularly for 6/8 minutes up until the custard starts thickening. When you will reach a dense cream texture turn the heat off and remove the saucepan from the stove so that it doesn’t keep cooking. Add the lemon juice and mix. Cover with a plate (so that the surface will not dry out) and set aside.

PUFF PASTRY

It’s time to roll the pastry. I use store bought puff pastry. You can buy the large roll or the single sheets, they both work. You want to obtain a rectangular surface that you can cut in same size squares. For this recipe I cut 2 inches squares. I really liked the small portion size of the final tart. It’s perfect for kids and not too much for adults (you can always take seconds, lol!).

Dust a surface with some flour and roll the pastry to reduce the thickness in half. I like to roll my puff pastry as it gets thinner and bakes better. The baked result is crispy and cooks evenly. It’s an extra step in the recipe but I don’t like undercooked pastry dough and it happens when the pastry is too thick.

Cut the pastry in equal squares and cut out half of them with a cookie cutter. I used the heart shape but please feel free to use any shape you like.

Place the pastry squares not cut out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Keep some distance in between them.

Wet the edges of the base squares with milk and place the cut out heart squares on top. Poke the central heart with a fork (that will prevent the pastry to form bubbles while baking). Brush the top heart pastry with some milk and sprinkle sugar on top. I used 1/4 tsp for each heart.

Bake the pastry hearts in preheated oven to 400F for 15 minutes up until cooked and golden. The size of your pastry will change the baking time. The smaller they are, the less time they will need in the oven. As a general rule I suggest to check them half way to see if you need a bit more or less time.

Remove the pastry hearts from the oven, let them cool down 5 minutes and press the central heart down with your fingers to create space for the custard.

STRAWBERRY ROSE

It’s time to have fun with the strawberry rose. You will need one large strawberry for each rose and a small sharp knife with a narrow point. Small strawberries work too but you will need a bit more patience and precision. The decoration is easy. 4 cuts outside as a square. Do not cut up until the end, just half way. Then another 4 slices in the inner part rotating the strawberry so that the inner slices do not correspond with the outer ones. I cut out the top center of the final central part that is left to resemble a pistil. In one minute your rose will be beautiful and ready.

It’s time to assemble our rose tart. Add 2-3 teaspoons of lemon custard in each tart and place a strawberry rose on top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and enjoy!

WHAT CAN I SUBSTITUTE TAPIOCA FLOUR WITH?

Tapioca flour will make the custard very gelatinous. If you cannot find it or you prefer a creamier and less “jello” texture you can use potato starch or corn starch. Same quantities

DON’T USE THE WHITE OF THE LEMON PEEL

When peeling the lemon try to cut the yellow superficial part only, not the white that is bitter. If you want a stronger lemon flavor you can zest the lemon and add it to the custard instead of flavoring the milk with the peel. In this case heat the milk by itself and add the lemon zest when you add the lemon juice at the end.

HOW TO STORE THE ROSE PASTRIES?

You can store the strawberry pastries in a paper container in the fridge (the custard has eggs and cannot stay on the countertop for days). Don’t use an air tight container or the pastry will get soggy. You need some air to go through the container. Paper works very well or a container with a plate on top. When you want to enjoy the pastry remove from the fridge and reheat for 1 min in a toaster oven or air frier. No microwave to reheat (the pastry will get soggy).

ROSE ESSENCE INSTEAD OF LEMON

If you can find rose essence or rose water you might want to substitute the lemon juice with it. You will still use the lemon peel but add another aroma to the tart. Excellent!

I DON’T HAVE TIME TO CARVE THE ROSE….

Not everyone is into rose carving, I get it 🙂

Not a problem at all, you can substitute the strawberry rose with simply sliced strawberries or raspberries or blueberries. Easy and beautiful too

CAN I SKIP THE CUSTARD?

You are not into custard? Don’t worry, you can substitute the custard with strawberry jam or any other fruit jam or even chocolate spread. That’s a lovely combination too.

HOW LONG WILL THEY LAST?

The strawberry tarts will last in the fridge for up to one week.

MORE STRAWBERRY RECIPES?

• Favorite easy strawberry baby puree – immune system booster
• Ricotta Strawberry Cake +12M
• Watermelon Strawberry Sorbet – refined sugar free
• Frozen Strawberry Yogurt popsicles
• Strawberry banana bites
• Strawberry chocolate pancake cake – dairy free
• Chocolate strawberry scream – Halloween
• Strawberry leather or roll-ups

MORE PASTRY RECIPES?

• Phillo pastry bites with eggs and zucchini
• Puff pastry rolls recipe – for kids over 12 months
• Authentic Italian Easter Pie with Spinach & Ricotta
• Fruit Sweet Bread Cups with Yogurt
• Baked Chicken Vegetable Samosa
• Savory pastries with broccoli and feta cheese