Jam tarts recipe

Jam tarts are easy to make and they make the perfect teatime treat with a afternoon cuppa.

Originally jam tarts would be made with homemade pastry and homemade jam. If you are making your own fruity jams this summer, it's definitely worth saving some to use in these jam tarts, but otherwise you can use shop bought instead. We'd recommend using a range of jams in different colours for the best effect - orange apricot, purple blackcurrant and raspberry red. You can use lemon curd for yellow tarts too, but it tends to darken quite a lot as it bakes, so you won't get a zingy, bright yellow.

Ingredients

• 150g (5oz) plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 75g (3oz) unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• Jam
• Icing sugar to decorate (optional)

Method

1. Sift the flour and salt into the bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes and drop them in. Rub the butter into the flour until it's like breadcrumbs.
2. Add the caster sugar and egg yolk and, with a wooden spoon, mix until it's stiff.
3. Add a little cold water (try a tbsp at a time) to make it stick together in a lump.
4. Knead the pastry gently for a few mins then leave in the fridge for 15 mins.
5. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5.
6. Sprinkle a little flour onto the pastry board or worktop. Roll out the dough evenly to about an eighth of an inch thick.
7. Use a circular cutter to cut out rounds of dough and put them in a tart tin. Prick the bottom and sides of the dough a few times. If you like, you can use a fork to press a pattern into the edges.
8. Put a tsp of jam into each.
9. Roll out leftover dough and cut shapes to decorate the top of the tarts if you like, or, when they're cooked, sift icing sugar shapes onto them.
10. Put the tarts in the top half of the oven for about 20 minutes until golden brown.
11. Leave to cool before eating, cooked jam is very hot and can burn your mouth.

Top tip for making jam tarts:

Swap homemade pastry for ready-made shortcrust if you need to make them in a hurry. 

How do I store jam tarts?

Jam tarts are best eaten on the day you bake them when the pastry is at its freshest. If you want to cook them the day before, store them in a sealed tuppaware container and keep it in a cool place like a larger or the top shelf of your fridge. If you're making the tarts to take to a party or a bake sale, you can stake them in boxes with a rigid sheet of cardboard in between. Don't use kitchen paper, baking parchment or clingfilm to separate the layers and they will all just stick to the jam.

You might also like...

• Strawberry jam recipe (opens in new tab)
• Paul Hollywood strawberry tart (opens in new tab)
• Pimm's strawberry tart recipe (opens in new tab)