Aardbeienvlaai (Limburg Strawberry Vlaai)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •28cm vlaai tin or shallow tart tin
• •Rolling pin
• •Baking beans or dried rice
• •Pastry brush
• •Medium saucepan

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add the lukewarm milk, softened butter, and egg yolk, then knead for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, and only lightly tacky. Cover and let it rise for about 1 hour, until doubled. This is gistdeeg, yeast dough, not shortcrust; it should feel alive under your hands.

2. 2

   Cook the cream

   Warm the milk with the split vanilla pod, or the vanilla extract, until fragrant. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch until pale. Pour in the hot milk slowly while whisking, then return everything to the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick and glossy. Beat in the butter, cover the surface directly with baking paper, and cool completely.

   The pastry cream must be cold before it touches the vlaai. Warm cream softens the yeast base and makes a fine strawberry tart taste like impatience.
3. 3

   Shape the base

   Grease a 28cm vlaai tin or shallow tart tin. Roll the risen dough into a round a little larger than the tin and lay it in, pressing it gently into the corners. Trim the edge neatly and prick the base all over with a fork. Let it rest for 20 minutes while the oven heats to 200C.

4. 4

   Bake it blind

   Line the dough with baking paper and fill with baking beans or dried rice. Bake for 15 minutes, then lift out the paper and weights and bake for 6 to 8 minutes more, until the base is lightly golden and dry to the touch. Do not bake it hard. A vlaai base should support the slice, not argue with the fork.

5. 5

   Glaze the berries

   Bloom the gelatin according to the packet instructions. Warm the apple juice or water with the sugar and lemon juice until the sugar dissolves, then stir in the gelatin off the heat. Let the glaze cool until syrupy but still pourable. If it is hot, wait; strawberries deserve better than being punished for your schedule.

6. 6

   Fill the vlaai

   Spread the cold pastry cream over the cooled vlaai base in an even layer. Arrange the strawberry halves cut side down in tight circles, starting at the outside and working inward. Brush or spoon the glaze thinly over the fruit, just enough to make it shine and hold its place.

7. 7

   Chill and slice

   Chill the vlaai for at least 45 minutes before slicing, so the cream settles and the glaze firms. Serve the same day, at a birthday table if you can manage it, with strong coffee and no unnecessary ceremony. The strawberries are the occasion.

Chef Tips

• •Make this when strawberries are in season. The calendar sets the menu here; pale winter strawberries give you colour, not flavour, and the vlaai will tell on you.
• •A proper vlaai tin is shallow with a sloped edge, usually 28 to 30cm. A shallow tart tin works, but avoid a deep quiche tin, which makes the dough too bready.
• •Keep the glaze thin. Its work is to protect the berries and catch the window light, not to turn the fruit into a sweet red mirror.
• •If your strawberries are very large, quarter them. The slice should cut cleanly, and nobody should need a knife and a strategy to eat pastry.

Advance Preparation

• •The pastry cream can be made 1 day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator with baking paper pressed directly on the surface.
• •The yeast base can be baked 4 to 6 hours ahead and kept loosely covered at room temperature before filling.
• •Assemble the vlaai on the day you serve it. Once the strawberries meet the cream, the clock is running.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 170g)