Weekly Recipe: Shortcrust Stanhill Strawberry Tarts

Ingredients (Serves 2):

320g readymade sweet short crust pastry          150ml double cream, whipped

1 punnet Stanhill strawberries                             flour, for rolling out pastry

2 tbsp. strawberry jam                                         butter, for greasing

1 tbsp. lemon curd

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 160⁰C fan/180⁰C/gas mark 4. Flour a flat surface and roll out the pastry roughly 1/2cm thick. Line 4 tart tins with a little butter; add the pastry to the tin and gently push the pastry into the corners of the tin. Prick the base with a fork, then add some greaseproof paper and baking beads or rice to weight the pastry. Blind bake for 25 minutes, remove the greaseproof and rice. Leave to cool.

  2. Whisk the double cream until it creates firm peaks and holds its structure. Fold in the lemon curd until completely combined.

  3. Remove the tops of the strawberries and slice lengthways so you have flat slices of strawberry.

  4. Distribute the cream evenly between the pastry cases, then layer the strawberry slices atop in a spiral, starting on the outside working inwards.

  5. Mix the strawberry jam with 1 tbsp. boiling water and mix together to create a glaze. Brush over the strawberries.

Toms Top Tips: This recipe can be chopped, changed and adapted to within an inch of its life. Swap the fruit for just about anything. My personal favourite is peaches instead of strawberries and swap the lemon curd in the cream for 2 tbsp. sugar and 1 tbsp. Kirsch or Peach Schnapps. Another combo to try is sliced pineapple and coconut rum. You can of course make the pastry but who wants to do that really? Lastly, if you want to remove the hull of the strawberry, insert a straw into the base of the strawberry and push all the way through the top where the leaves are.