Make Homemade Jam Tarts

Edited by Graciela Franchesca Rosario, Lynn, Graeme, Olivia and 1 other

4 Parts: Ingredients: Preparation: Cooking method: Comments
Jam intro.png

A jam tart is a delightful snack. So aside from egg or other fruit flavors of the tart, you can use jam as a topping as well. To make lemon tarts, you can use lemon curd and sugar, as with jam making. Honey is sweet, but is not applicable to jam making. And sugar of any kind can be expensive. Tarts have been considered somewhat outdated, but they are making a comeback.

Ingredients:

For tarts

  • 2-3 tbsp. cold water
  • 100 g (4 oz.) butter for greasing, an equal mix or cubed of lard and butter
  • 55 g (2 oz.) cooking margarine, like Stork
  • 55 g (2 oz.) refined vegetable fat, like Cookeen
  • You can use just cooking margarine like Stork instead of Cookeen and Stork. Using both offers a fairly lighter shortcrust pastry.
  • 100 g (3 ½ oz.) white caster sugar
  • 1 orange, zest only
  • Pinch of salt
  • 250 g (8 oz.) plain flour/all purpose, for dusting
  • 250 g (9 oz.) ready-made shortcrust pastry

For the jam filling

  • 1 vanilla pod, split
  • 450 g (1 lb.) golden caster sugar
  • 450 g (1 lb.) strawberries, hulls removed, or any fruit jam or lemon curd, plus extra to serve
  • 1 tbsp. rosewater
  • Clotted cream, to serve
  • 1 tbsp. orange liqueur

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Pastry resting time: 30 minutes

Total time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Skill Level: Easy

Yield: Approximately 18 tarts

Preparation:

  1. 1
    Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/350 degrees F
    .
    Lightly grease a 12-16 hole tart mold with a little butter.
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  2. 2
    Put grease-proof paper on a baking tray and sprinkle on the white caster sugar and orange zest
    .
    Place it on the lowest shelf in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the orange zest has been coated and sugar has melted. Remove it from the oven, and then let it cool to harden into a candied peel.
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Cooking method:

  1. 1
    Measure the ingredients
    .
    It would be much easier if the Cookeen and Stork have been taken out from the fridge 30 minutes beforehand.
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  • 2
    Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl
    .
    Put in the Stork, Cookeen, butter, salt, and flour in a mixing bowl. Mix together using your hands until you have reached a crumbly mixture, such as fine breadcrumbs. An odd lump or two will not destroy the pastry. Work fast, so you can prevent the dough from becoming warm.
    Jam mix 1.png
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  • 3
    Add 3 tablespoons of water to the pastry mix, stir using a cold knife until the dough binds together, and then add more teaspoons of cold water if the mixture is too dry
    .
    Then cut it using a blunt knife.
    Jam stir 2.png
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  • 4
    Using your hand, form a ball out of the pastry mix
    .
    This will last for a minute. Add a tablespoon or more of water to the mixture if it won't form a ball easily. If the mixture is correct, most of the remains from the side of the bowl will attach easily to the ball. Wrap the pastry mix with a Saran wrap/cling film and put in the fridge for a minimum of 15 minutes, up to 30 minutes.
    Jam ball 3.png
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  • 5
    The dough may also be made using a food processor
    .
    Mix the butter, cold fat, flour, and salt in the bowl of the processor on a pulse setting.
    Tart proc.png
    The mixture creates coarse breadcrumbs, and the fat is evenly coated and distributed with flour. If you don't have a food processor, use your fingertips to quickly rub the fat into the flour. Add ice water slowly until the dough forms a ball. Be careful to not add the ice. Start with 2 tablespoons, and pulse many times in the food processor. A pastry will start to come together. Then add another tablespoon. The amount of water you need depends on the temperature and humidity. As the dough comes together, stop pulsing it. It should feel elastic. It should also not feel either dry or wet. Then wrap in a cloth, cling film or Saran wrap, and chill it for 15-30 minutes. This is an important step, because this makes the flour strong yet elastic in nature. It allows you to roll much more delicate and thinner pastry without breaking.
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    • Assembling the pies:

    1. 1
      Unwrap the pastry and spread flour on the working area, then get the pastry mix from the fridge and flatten it slightly into 0.5 cm (¼ inch) thickness using your hands
      .
      Jam flour 4.png
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    2. 2
      Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F/180 degrees C.
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    3. 3
      Using a rolling pin, flatten the pastry to approximately 0.1 inch (1/4 cm) thickness
      .
      Keep turning the pastry after every few rolls to stop it from sticking to the work surface.
      Jam roll 5.png
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    4. 4
      Use the pastry cutter, an upturned cup, or a cookie cutter to cut pastry circles that are bigger than the holes in the baking pan
      .
      Press every pastry circle into a hole in the baking tray.
      Jam press 6.png
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    5. 5
      For the jam filling, put in the strawberries, vanilla pod, golden caster sugar, orange liqueur, and rosewater into a pan and simmer it
      .
      Simmer for five to eight minutes, or until the strawberries start to break down. Let it cool slightly.
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    6. 6
      Once the strawberry filling mixture has slightly cooled, fill every pastry with an equal amount (about a heaping teaspoon) into its center
      .
      Be careful to not overfill, as the jam may spill out and burn when heated.
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    7. 7
      Repeat until all the pastry has been used up
      .
      You may squish the pastry trimmings back together and re-roll several times. The pastry circles must be rested before they are cooked. Cut strips from the remains of pastry and lay them on top of the tarts.
      Jam strip 7.png
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    8. 8
      Put the tarts in the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry cases are golden brown at 350 degrees F/180 degrees C
      .
      Get the tarts from the oven and set aside on a wire rack to let them cool completely. Do not eat while the tart is hot, as it may burn your mouth because the jam takes a long time to cool.
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    9. 9
      To serve, put one to two strawberry jam tarts into the center of every serving plate
      .
      Put a teaspoonful of clotted cream on top of every tart and garnish with raw strawberries. Garnish over the set aside candied peel.
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    Other technique:

    1. 1
      Zest is the outer rind of a citrus fruit
      .
      It contains essential oils.
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    2. 2
      Remove the zest using a grater, potato peeler, or zester
      .
      The amount you put will depend on how fine or thick you want the zest to be.
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    3. 3
      When you remove the zest with a vegetable or potato peeler, slice it into thin, long strips using a sharp knife afterwards.
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    If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

    Comments

    Article Info

    Categories : Jams & Jellies

    Recent edits by: Olivia, Graeme, Lynn

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