In praise of the humble jam tart

 

I feel sorry for jam tarts. When faced with their glamourous and voluptuously decorated cupcake cousins they look like the pantomime equivalent of Cinders. But ask anyone about jam tarts and they'll admit they have a place in their heart.

I haven't made a batch for a long time, peferring to make larger cakes that could be portioned up or perhaps fairy cakes that could be iced. However, after making a batch of 24 jam tarts at the weekend on a whim, I was surprised by just how popular and well enjoyed they were this week. I made them Sunday night and by this morning there were two left.

Martin's father has had a regular supply while in hospital, and for someone who has a bird-like appetite and is a bit ho-hum about cakes, the jam tarts were polished off two at a time at speed about 10 minutes after we walked in the door. Martin obviously loves anything sweet and particularly liked these as they didn't crumble while he was eating them and he could carrying on sorting letters with his other hand.

So, in praise of the humble jam tart, here's the recipe I used based on a rich flan pastry. This has much more fat than a normal shortcrust pastry  and does make it more delicate and difficult to cut and shape, so you might want to try normal shortcrust or even a shortbread pastry base. You can also use different flavour jam, but beware! Don't be fooled by how cool the pastry on the tarts might feel after they've been on the rack for a while after cooking. The jam is still so hot after 20 minutes it is capable of burning and removing lip skin. I speak from experience ;-)

Jam Tarts using rich flan pastry (should make 12-16, although I like thin pastry so I stretched it to 24)

• 8oz plain flour
• 6oz butter/marg
• pinch of salt
• 2tbsp sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• jam for filling

Sift the flour into a bowl with the salt. Cube the cold butter/marg and rub in the fat with the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, beaten egg and water and using a fork lightly work the pastry until it comes together. Lightly kneed (don't overwork it or the pastry will be tough) the pastry on a floured surface, warp in clingfilm and put in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

Lightly roll out the pastry on a floured surface, bearing in mind that it will be stickier than a normal pastry and more delicate to handle, and stamp out circles to match the size of your jam tart/fairy cake baking tray. Grease and flour the tray if necessary (mine always needs it as they have the odd scratch from over zealous evicting of cakes using a knife!) before lightly pressing the circles into each hole. Add a scant tsp of jam to the centre of each, being careful not to overfill the cases as the jam will leak out over the edges.

Put in a oven pre-heated to Gas Mark 5/6 and cook for around 15-20 minutes until the jam is bubbling. Gently remove from the tray and put onto a wire rack straight away.

Then WAIT for 30 minutes or so before attempting to scoff or risk losing your lip print and the skin on the roof of your mouth.

Comments

[sara]

We love jam tarts big and small..tots love them with custard for puddings and as a treat with some ice cream plopped in the middle...plain and simple but very scrumptious..
How is your FIL doing with his treatments..
love
sara

[Alex]

I agree - I LOVE jam tarts! Also love your blog - thanks. Alex

[Steel]

Hi Alex, Hi Sara

FIL is doing well and is out of hospital. He's making up for the lack of sleep he got in hopsital by napping constantly, although I think the chemo has something to do with that too. But he was very glad to get home back to his comfy armchair and start wielding the remote control.