Jam Tarts

(Copied from old blog...originally posted 9th May 2009)

I've never really been a big fan of jam tarts unless they are homemade. I'd never actually made jam tarts before now, believe it or not but the little guy is a big fan of the Mr Kipling variety. I found a very simple recipe and used a variety of jams from Hartley's.

I'd like to take this opportunity to say Hartley's Seedless Raspberry Jam whilst very delicious is not suitable for jam tart making - it turns into a hot liquid like molten lava and WILL burn your mouth when you attempt to scoff one straight out of the oven. I'm not sure why the raspberry melts so much, but it is a totally different consistency to the others from the outset. It does however kind of solidify again but not before making a complete gooey mess of everything. My advice is don't use that one! (If you look closely at the picture above, you'll see one of the raspberry ones in the top right hand corner).

Anyhow, aside from a raspberry jam near miss disaster they were lovely. The kiddies and Mr M loved them, as did I naturally although they weren't too keen on the look of apricot jam - who knows why, I personally love anything apricot-flavoured. I didn't overload them with jam, mainly because kids + jam = sticky mess. They didn't really need much jam anyhow.

Jam Tarts

Ingredients

400g plain flour
200g butter, chilled and diced
50g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
1 orange, rind grated
340g jar of jam, or use a mix of jams

Method

Whizz the flour and butter in a food processor until they are a breadcrumb consistency. Add the caster sugar and mix.

Add the egg yolks and orange rind and pulse until it comes together. You may need to add a splash of water*. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for around 20 minutes.

Heat the oven to 190c/fan 170c/gas 5.

Roll out the pastry and cut out circles big enough to fit 2 x 12 hole muffin tins.

Bake for 15 minutes, then add small spoonfuls of jam to each tart and bake for another 5 minutes.

* I had to add quite a bit of water, probably about 2tbsps in all and it still didn't quite come together as it says but in the end I just kneaded it into a big ball. It was a little crumbly at first but once into the rolling process it was fine.

love & kisses
Mrs M x