Last Updated on March 8, 2020 by Chef Mireille
Chilean Strawberry Kuchen is a luscious cream tart perfect for any holiday or special occasion. Easily adaptable with mango, apple, raspberries or other fruit. It starts with a cookie base and then a custard cream filling and a fresh fruit filling is added on top! These three layers combine into one amazing dessert recipe!
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Most people when they think of Valentine’s Day treats, chocolate is the first flavor that comes to their mind. However, not everyone in the world is a chocolate fanatic. Yes, that’s me raising my hand!
Of all the cake recipes on this blog, you will only find a handful of chocolate. So when I think of Valentine’s Day treats, rich, creamy, luscious and fruity desserts definitely fit the bill. This Chilean Strawberry Kuchen is perfect to serve on Valentine’s Day for someone else in your life who doesn’t go completely ga-ga just because it’s made with chocolate!
Chilean Kuchen
Many South American countries have large German descended populations. The bulk of the German migration to South America occurred in the 19th century, however many Nazi’s fled to Argentina after World War II. Argentina, Brazil and Chile have the largest German populations in South America, with Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru having yet smaller German populations.
Germans brought with them their food and culture, although sometimes adapted with local fruits and produce. The German word for cake is kuchen. In these South American countries, the kuchen came to be applied to a variety of cakes, pies and tarts. In Brazil, it is known as cuca and you can check out my Cuca de Banana recipe here. In each South American country, kuchen is something different.
Mostly in southern Chile is where the kuchen is popular, as that is where much of the German settlers are concentrated. Although most people think of German Kuchen, the dessert is as popular in Chile.
Kuchen can be made with any variety of fruit with berries, apple, mango and peach being some of the most popular varieties.
This is the first Chilean recipe I am presenting here. I am so happy to discover the cuisine of yet another country. Although Chilean cuisine is quite familiar to me as growing up one of my Mom’s good friends was Chilean and we would often eat at her house, this is the first time I am making something from the country myself.
Although Maria Christina now lives in California, she is always just a phone call away!
It might look a little complicated, but I promise you it comes together so quickly. Although it has different components, they are all fast and simple.
This decadent and fab looking dessert took me just a bit over an hour to complete and half of that was it baking in the oven, so only about 40 minutes of actual work. So little time and you can wow anybody with this gorgeous dessert!
Now are you ready to make Chilean Strawberry Kuchen ~ Cream Tart?
HOW TO MAKE CHILEAN STRAWBERRY KUCHEN ~ CREAM TART
- First you make the cookie base with butter, sugar, eggs and flour.
- Now press that cookie crust into a springform pan.
- Then you bake the cookie crust.
Now it’s to make the pastry cream and assemble the tart.
Chilean Strawberry Kuchen ~ Cream Tart
Ingredients
Crust Ingredients
Filling Ingredients
- 3 cups milk
- ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 eggs + 2 egg yolks
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 oz. stemmed and sliced strawberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Spray a 9” springform pan with non stick spray.
- In a bowl, beat butter and sugar until crumbly with an electric mixer.
- Add egg and mix well.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Whisk to aerate and combine.
- Add flour to other bowl and mix with the electric mixer for 1 minute.
- Use a rubber spatula to fully incorporate the flour.
- Transfer to prepared pan.
- With wet hands, press the dough into the bottom of the pan.
- Using the edge of the rubber spatula, smooth the batter on top.
- Transfer to oven and bake for 15 minutes, until batter is set and slightly golden.
- Meanwhile, let’s make the pastry cream.
- In a saucepan, combine half of the milk and half of the sugar.
- Heat, but do not boil.
- In a bowl, combine remaining milk and sugar. Add eggs and egg yolks. Whisk well until thoroughly combined.
- Add vanilla and mix to combine.
- Add cornstarch and mix well, until very smooth. Pass through a sieve to make sure there are no cornstarch lumps.
- Remove simmering milk off of the stove and add cornstarch egg mixture.
- Whisk well to thoroughly combine.
- Return pan to stove and simmer on medium low heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Whisk continuously for another 2 minutes until thickened. Consistency should be like Greek yogurt.
- Add half of the pastry cream to baked shell.
- Add the berries on top.
- Add remaining cream.
- Return pan to oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Cover and chill overnight in the refrigerator or for at least 8 hours.
- Unmold, slice and serve.
Nutrition
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Vaishali Sabnani
Well even though I am a chocolate fan I would not mind this tart . That slice is tempting me to the core , love that layers , beautiful !
Chef Mireille
thank you – yes it is a decadent and delicious dessert!
Varada
Lovely bake. The texture of the base looks so good. The strawberry filling sounds delicious.
Chef Mireille
it is a simple to do yet oh so delicious dessert
Gayathri Kumar
Such a beautiful tart Mir. With the flaky base and creamy fruity filling it looks perfect for any celebration.
Chef Mireille
yes definitely a treat for any special occasion
Priya Suresh
Such a beautiful and irresistible kuchen, i cant take my eyes off. Wish i get a slice of this Ultimate Chilean strawberry kuchen rite now. Well done Mir.
Chef Mireille
thank you – I am sure you will love it when you try it.
harini
Good to know the history behind this wonderful dessert. Love the layers.
Chef Mireille
thank you and it is as delicious as it looks 🙂
Srivalli Jetti
Wow that’s once fantastic treat to enjoy! Love those fresh strawberries, look so bright and red!
Chef Mireille
thank you – yes it is very bright and delicious
Srividhya Gopalakrishnan
he he he I will raise my hands up as well for no chocolates. 🙂 This is such a decadent dessert and it has come out really well. Bookmarking this.
Chef Mireille
yeah – us non chocolate lovers have to stick together. Thanks
Sandhya Ramakrishnan
Lovely bake and after seeing this I am realizing that I don’t have a springform pan and need to invest in one soon. Love the base and the creamy strawberry filling.
Chef Mireille
Springform pan to me is essential. It is my go to pan for all cakes, the sides comes off so easily – Once I started using, I never have had problems removing cake from pans.
Klara
Hi, I´m certain this is a wonderful recipie. However, I wish that you would have included the time that the tart would have to cool (8 hours) in the “Total Time” that was at the beginning of the recipie!
Have a nice day
/Klara
Chef Mireille
Thanks for the feedback. I have edited it so that it is now represented without reading the entire recipe first.
Isabella
I just made this and it was such a fun process !! highly recommend this one especially if you aren’t too fond of chocolate desserts !!
Chef Mireille
Exactly it’s the perfect dessert for the fruit lovers!