Strawberry Tart with Pistachio Graham Cracker Crust
Published 5/22/2022 • Updated 3/17/2024
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This gorgeous strawberry tart is made with a pistachio graham cracker crust and a yummy vanilla bean Greek yogurt filling.
Favorite Strawberry Dessert Recipe!
Welcome to the strawberry tart of your dreams! This lighter dessert is made with fresh ingredients and truly is a show-stopping recipe. Who doesn’t love strawberry desserts?
This delicious strawberry tart recipe is fully equipped with fresh strawberries, a yummy Greek yogurt cream filling, and pistachio graham cracker crust. A mouthful, literally, but worth it.
How it’s Lightened Up
We took the liberty to make this tart a bit better for you by doing a few things:
Super fresh: we used a fresh strawberry topping instead of a syrupy one.
Slightly sweet: we used just a little bit of brown sugar and honey to really focus on the natural sweetness of the strawberries.
Greek yogurt filling: the custard filling is made with part cream and part Greek yogurt to lighten things up.
Featured Ingredients
The Crust
- Pistachios: we decided to use pistachios for the crust for their slightly sweet, nutty flavor. We recommend buying shelled pistachios so you don’t have to do it yourself!
- Brown sugar: brown sugar adds sweetness.
- Graham crackers: is there anything better than a graham cracker crust?
- Butter: butter holds all of the crust ingredients together.
The Filling
- Heavy cream: heavy cream adds a luscious creaminess to this filling.
- Honey: honey is the sweetener and we love that it’s all-natural.
- Lemon zest: lemon zest adds a freshness that you won’t be able to resist.
- Vanilla bean: vanilla adds warmth. Feel free to swap for about 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Greek yogurt: a little Greek lightens things up a bit while extending the life of the cream filling.
Our custard method
The custard filling in this recipe is made in a very special way! Classic custard is made with eggs, sugar, and cream. This custard is made by boiling heavy cream and letting it set in the fridge to get nice and custard-like.
We wanted to give a big shoutout to Half Baked Harvest. We were inspired by how she turns cream into custard.
Topping
- Fresh strawberries: we decided to go fresh instead of frozen or jam because juicy strawberries are truly the best.
- Mint: mint not only adds color but a brightness.
Top Tips
Allow the cream to boil: classic custard is made from eggs, cream, and sugar. But this recipe is made by boiling heavy cream and then letting it set in the fridge to become thick and custard-like.
The heavy cream will bubble up, so be sure you have a tall enough saucepan. And yes, boil your cream for 5 whole minutes!
Bake the Crust First: the crust in this strawberry tart is absolutely delicious. It’s made with pistachio nuts, graham crackers, and butter. Make sure to bake the crust for 10-13 minutes so that it gets nice and crunchy before adding the filling
Feel Free to Double the Filling: this tart is on the lighter side, so if you’re a big filling person, feel free to double it for a thicker filling.
Latest Desserts
Variations
Switch up the berry: try using fresh raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries to really make this tart your own!
Make the filling chocolate: add in some cocoa powder and a little more honey to make this a chocolate strawberry tart.
Swap the lemon: instead of lemon zest, use orange zest instead for a different citrus burst.
Storage
Make sure to keep the tart covered and store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. As the tart sits, the crust will likely soften but don’t worry, it will still be delicious!
Strawberry Tart
Ingredients
Crust
- ½ cup shelled roasted and salted pistachios, (we used Wonderful brand)
- 9 graham cracker sheets
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 6 tablespoons melted butter
Filling
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2.5 teaspoons lemon zest, separated
- ½ vanilla bean, paste scraped out
- ¼ cup 2% plain Greek yogurt
Topping
- 1 pint fresh strawberries, de-stemmed and thinly sliced
- 4-6 small leaves of fresh mint
- lemon zest, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9-inch tart pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Place the pistachios in a food processor and process the pistachios on low speed just to break them up.
- Add the graham cracker sheets to the food processor and process them on low with the pistachios until you are left with a graham cracker and pistachio crumb.
- Add the brown sugar and melted butter to the food processor and process for 1-2 minutes until all the ingredients begin to stick together.
- Pour the graham cracker crumbs into the greased tart pan and carefully press the crumble into the bottom of the tart pan and then up the sides. Using the bottom of a measuring cup works great for this.
- Bake the crust at 350ºF for 10-13 minutes or until the crust begins to turn a golden brown color. Remove the crust from the oven and set aside to cool.
- Next, add the heavy cream and honey to a tall saucepan. Whisk the two ingredients together. Heat the cream and honey over medium/high heat and bring the two ingredients to a boil. Turn the heat to medium and allow the mixture to boil for 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring periodically.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the cream into a bowl and let it cool for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes add the vanilla bean and 1.5 teaspoons lemon zest to the heavy cream and whisk the ingredients together until combined.
- Slowly add the Greek yogurt to the bowl and whisk until combined.
- Pour the cream mixture into the bottom of the tart crust. Gently shake the tart so that the cream is evenly distributed over the bottom of the tart.
- Place the tart in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. If the custard hasn’t set, place the tart back in the refrigerator for another 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Once the custard has set, create a strawberry “rose” or “dahlia” with the thin strawberry slices. Start at the edge of the tart and layer the strawberries in whatever way you would like moving towards the middle of the tart while layering the strawberries until they reach the center.
- Tuck the fresh mint under a few strawberries and sprinkle the remaining lemon zest over the strawberries.
- Place the tart back into the refrigerator for an additional 30 minutes and enjoy.
Tips & Notes
- Be sure you allow the heavy cream to boil for 5 minutes. The heavy cream will bubble up, so be sure you have a tall enough saucepan.
- If you would like a thicker tart, feel free to double the heavy cream, honey, lemon zest, vanilla bean, and Greek yogurt.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Photography: photos taken in this post are by Ashley McGlaughlin from The Edible Perspective.
