I had a bit of leftover lemon curd from last week’s Pavlova recipe… I also have jar upon jar of home-made fruit jelly in the store cupboard. As someone who hates to waste anything, I thought I would make some simple lemon curd and jelly tarts.
Whether you’re rubbing in by hand or using a food mixer, the shortcrust pastry is a breeze…
…then fill with your preserve(s) of choice and bake. Start to finish in an hour or so. Perfect if you want to rustle up something quickly – or try a bit of baking with the kids.
You can leave them plain & simple – or perhaps pretty them up a bit. I garnished the top of the lemon curd tarts with a single blueberry and the jelly ones with a little sprinkle of dessicated coconut.
They’re a good finger food for a party or an afternoon or high tea. They’re simple, inexpensive and delicious – a great combination!
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- 180g/6oz plain flour
- pinch of salt
- 90g/3oz cold butter, cubed
- 3-4 tbsp cold water
- 8tbsp lemon curd
- 8tbsp fruit jelly or jam
- Put the flour and salt into a food processor and whiz briefly together to mix
- Add the butter cubes and pulse briefly a dozen times or so until you have coarse crumbs
- Trickle in the water continuing to pulse until the mixture resembles rough lumps and looks a bit like overcooked and dry scrambled eggs. Add only as much water as you need
- Tip the clumped crumbs onto a sheet of cling film and gently squeeze together into a ball without pressing too hard
- Wrap & chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/Gas mark 6
- Lightly grease a tartlet tin
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll the pastry out thinly
- Using a pastry cutter slightly larger than the circumference of a tartlet hole, cut out pastry rounds
- Press the pastry rounds evenly into each hole (I use the end of my rolling pin as a tamper)
- Fill each pastry case with about a teaspoon of lemon curd or jelly/jam
- Bake for 15 minutes
- Allow to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before attempting to remove them
- Allow them to cool completely on a wire rack
