Jam tarts are a quintessentially British treat, characterised as shortcrust pastry rounds which are filled with assorted fruit jams such as strawberry, raspberry, or lemon curd.
The flavoursome bakes have many variations but most classic recipes call for a mixture of flour, eggs, sugar, butter and plenty of fresh fruits for the glossy jam.
While making pastry and jam from scratch puts many people off homemade tarts, this recipe by the founder of Chaos Makes Cakes is incredibly straightforward.
Posting on her blog, the experienced baker said: “These little jam tarts have lots going for them. They’re easy and quick to prepare, you almost can’t mess them up.
“You only need a few humble ingredients that you’ve probably already got lying around… And best of all, these jam tarts are delicious.”
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Method
Start with the shortcrust pastry by combining all of the ingredients except the jam in a food processor. Pulse until they all come together into a ball then remove from the appliance and work lightly with the palms of the hands to remove any lumps.
If making by hand, combine the flour and sugar in a large bowl then tip it onto a clean, wide work surface.
Make a large well in the centre and crack in the eggs before adding the butter, lemon zest, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
Working from the middle of the well, rub the flour and butter together while incorporating the wet ingredients.
The baker said: “Don’t panic if some bits of egg escape the well, just push them back in!”
Continue to mix by hand until the mixture resembles a dough, being careful not to overmix or knead it at all as this will “toughen up the pastry”. When it’s ready, wrap the ball of mixture in cling film and leave to chill in the fridge for one hour.
Preheat the oven to 180C while waiting and grease a 12-slot tart tray or cupcake tin.
Pre-heat your oven to 180C (fan) and grease a 12-slot mini tart tray (you can also use a cupcake tin, although this will result in deeper tarts)
Create the pastry cases for your jam tarts by covering a clean surface with a light dusting of flour, and rolling out half of the chilled pastry to a thickness of 2-3mm. Leave the other half in the fridge for now.
Use a glass or round cookie cutter to portion out six pastry circles for the base and gently transfer them into the 12-slot tart tray, pushing the pastry right into the edges.
Fill the pastry cases two-thirds of the way up with the jam, then repeat the cutting process to make six more bases with the rest of the pastry.
Any leftover pastry can be used to cut out stars, hearts or any other shapes that will sit on top of the filled jam tarts for decoration.
Bake the prepared tartlets in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven then leave the tarts to cool in the tray for five minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.