Strawberry Jam Tarts
From BBC FoodJam tarts are perfect for baking with children. Swap the homemade jam for shop-bought if you're short on time.
Ingredients
For the tarts
Butter, for greasing
1 orange, zest only (use a fine zester)
100g/3½oz white caster sugar
250g/9oz ready-made sweet shortcrust pastry
Plain flour, for dusting
For the jam filling
450g/1lb strawberries, hulls removed, plus
extra to serve
450g/1lb golden caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, split
1 tbsp rosewater
1 tbsp orange liqueur
Clotted cream, to serve
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a 12-16 hole tart mould with butter.
Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and sprinkle over the orange zest and white caster sugar. Transfer to the lowest shelf in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the sugar has melted and coated the orange zest. Remove from the oven and set aside to harden into candied peel.
Roll out the shortcrust pastry onto a lightly floured work surface to a 0.5cm/¼in thickness. Using a cookie cutter, or an upturned cup, cut discs from the pastry that are slightly bigger than the holes in the prepared tart tray, then press one disc into each of the holes.
For the jam filling, place the strawberries, golden caster sugar, vanilla pod, rosewater and orange liqueur into a pan and bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for 5-8 minutes, or until the strawberries begin to break down. Set aside to cool slightly.
When the strawberry filling mixture has cooled slightly, spoon equal amounts into the centre of each pastry case. Then transfer the tarts to the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the pastry cases are golden-brown. Remove the tarts from the oven and set aside on a wire rack to cool.
To serve, place 1-2 strawberry jam tarts into the centre of each serving plate. Place a teaspoonful of clotted cream on top of each tart and garnish with the fresh strawberries. Sprinkle over the reserved candied peel.
By Simon Rimmer
From Something for the Weekend
