Posh Jam Tarts

I want to fish the Jam Tarts out of the proverbial pit of useless dishes that just get made when there are leftovers to use up. Unlike turkey pie, bread and butter pudding or roast chicken sandwiches, this easy, humble tart should be ample justification to look out the rolling pin.

Step 1

First, preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4. Grease a bun tin (fairy cake tin) with plenty of butter..

Step 2

First, make the pastry. Weigh the flour and diced butter into a bowl and rub them together using your fingers – grab a handful of the mix, then rub your thumbs over the rest of your fingers like a washboard until there’s nothing left in them and repeat. Keep going until they look like breadcrumbs. Alternatively, use a food processor.

Step 3

Add your water and mix everything together into a dough – you might need to work it a bit, but don’t do it too much or you’ll have tough, gluey pastry. Wrap this in cling film and chill in the fridge whilst you make the jam.

Step 4

Weigh your berries and fruit into a pan and place on a medium heat, stirring as it heats. You want to smoosh your berries with the back of your spoon as the sugar and fruit heats up and slowly bring to the boil. It will require several minutes of boiling before
it is sufficiently thick – test it by spooning some onto a cold plate, then running your finger across it. Does it hold its shape? Then it’s done.

Step 5

Leave your jam to cool and get the pastry out the fridge. Roll it out on a floured surface (using plenty of flour on top, too) until it is the thickness of a £1 coin all over. Yes, that thin. And no thicker. Use a cookie cutter (or just a mug) to cut circles out of your pastry and place these into your tin. You can re-roll your pastry if you don’t have enough.

Step 6

Fill each tart with a heaped teaspoon of your fresh jam and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes – the jam should bubble, and the pastry just turning a light golden brown. There should be no soggy bottoms here!

Step 7

Cut up your fruit for the top whilst the tarts are cooling slightly – resist the temptation to eat straight from the oven, as they will scald you badly. Once you’ve arranged the fruit beautifully on top, reheat your remaining jam and brush over the fruit to glaze. You can keep any remaining jam in sanitised jars. 

Enjoy!