Strawberry & Honey Tart

Preheat oven to 400 F. Have a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom standing by.

To a saucepan over medium-high heat, add the butter, oil, water, sugar, and salt. Stir and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer 3 minutes. Remove from heat and add the flour to the hot butter mixture, stirring quickly with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the pan.

Turn the dough out into the tart pan and press the dough across the bottom and part-way up the sides of the pan. Prick the dough with a fork all over and refrigerate 5 minutes to firm up.

Remove it from the refrigerator and put it into the oven. Bake 15-17 minutes or until golden and fragrant. Remove pan from the oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.

For the filling:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the milk, vanilla bean seeds, honey, powdered sugar, and lemon zest and beat until smooth and creamy. Spread the cream cheese mixture into the cooled tart shell using an off-set spatula.

Arrange the strawberries in a circular design on top of the cream cheese mixture, pressing them down just slightly.

Warm the honey in for a few seconds in the microwave or in a small saucepan over low heat until just thin enough to brush. Brush the strawberries with the warm honey.

Chill the tart in the refrigerator for at least an hour before slicing and serving.

A note about the crust: This crust is adapted from David Lebovitz’s French Tart Dough recipe, which requires the butter mixture to be heated in an oven-proof bowl in the oven before adding the flour. Because I did not have a proper bowl to attempt this method, I heated the mixture on the stove instead and achieved beautiful results—a flaky, buttery, firm tart crust. If you have an oven-proof bowl, by all means, try David’s method instead.

Crust adapted from David Lebovitz via 84th and 3rd. Filling adapted from Tutti Dolci.