Nicola Lamb’s roasted strawberry brioche tart

Method

1. To make the brioche dough, add the warm milk, eggs and vanilla paste or scraped vanilla seeds to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the dry ingredients next, putting the yeast on one side of the bowl and the salt on the other.
2. Using the dough hook, mix on medium speed for about 6-8 minutes or until medium gluten development is reached (this means the dough holds together when stretched but still feels slightly fragile). You can mix further, but this is the minimum needed before adding the fat.
3. With the mixer running, add the soft butter a teaspoon at a time, waiting for it to be incorporated before adding the next. Continue mixing at medium-high speed for another 10-12 minutes until the dough is very smooth and fully developed. You should be able to stretch a piece of it into a thin, almost translucent sheet. If it hasn’t reached this stage yet, let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then continue mixing in 5-minute intervals until it’s ready.
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5. Remove the dough from the bowl and shape it into a smooth round using your hands or a bench scraper. Use the work surface to create surface tension and form a tight, even ball.
6. Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover (with a clean tea towel or plastic bag) and let it rise for about 1 hour. It should noticeably puff and almost double in size. Press onto a tray lined with greased baking paper to deflate, then cover (with tightly wrapped baking paper, another tray or a clean tea towel) and chill until firm – overnight is best but you can do this step in the freezer in about 30 minutes if you’re in a rush.
7. For the roasted strawberries, heat the oven to 170°C/150°C fan/gas 3½. Wash, hull and halve the strawberries, then toss with the caster sugar on a tray. Roast for 30-40 minutes until soft, syrupy and slightly shrunken. The strawberries will have turned a deeper shade of red. Leave to cool slightly, then move to a container and store in the fridge until needed.
8. To prepare the tart, roll the dough into a circle approximately 30cm wide. Slide the disc onto a sheet of baking paper and re-roll it into a circle if it has warped. Using a bench scraper or knife, cut 5cm long slits around the edge of the dough, each about 1-2cm wide.
9. To braid the border, pull each ‘arm’ of dough horizontally across the next and tuck under the arm that’s two spaces along to create a rope-like braid.
10. Slide the tart onto a baking tray and leave to prove until puffy (about 45 minutes to 1 hour).
11. For the custard, in a mixing bowl mix all the ingredients together using a spoon until smooth, then set aside.
12. Heat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/gas 5. Press down the centre of the puffy tart, moving any dough to the edges to help maintain the crater shape.
13. Egg wash the edges.
14. Pour the custard into the middle of the bread and use a spoon to even it out, making sure it goes right to the edges.
15. Sprinkle the border with pearl sugar (if using).
16. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden on the edges and the custard barely wobbles when shaken – it might bubble a bit. Leave to cool completely.
17. To finish, drain the strawberries from their syrup.
18. Heat the syrup in a saucepan until slightly thickened and coating the back of the spoon, then leave to cool. Arrange the strawberries in the middle of the tart, then spoon over the syrup.