Strawberry tart recipe

For a delicious summery dessert, why not try this fruity strawberry tart from Woman's Weekly reader Kelly Cope?

Ingredients

For the sweet shortcrust pastry:

• 175g (6oz) plain flour
• 30g (1oz) ground almonds
• 3 medium egg yolks
• 90g (3oz) caster sugar
• 90g (3oz) butter, softened
• 23cm (9in) loose-bottomed fluted flan tin

For the filling:

• 500g (1lb) ripe, even-sized strawberries
• 15g (½oz) caster sugar
• 2 large oranges
• ½ level tsp powdered gelatine
• 300ml carton double cream
• 2 level tbsp icing sugar

Method

1. Set the oven to 200°C or gas 6.
2. To make the pastry: Sift the flour on to a dry work surface, sprinkle over the almonds and make a well in the centre. Inside this, put the egg yolks, sugar and butter, along with 1tbsp water. Using your fingertips, pinch the central ingredients together until evenly mixed. Using a palette knife, gradually draw the flour and almonds into the centre ingredients. Knead together gently until just smooth. Wrap in baking parchment, and chill for at least 30 mins, so the pastry firms up.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry quite thinly. Roll it over your (floured) rolling pin, then gently unroll over your flan tin. Carefully ease pastry into the corners and up the sides and trim off excess. Place tin in the fridge to chill for another 30 mins.
4. Prick the base of the pastry with a fork, then line with a sheet of foil, folding it up and over the side of the case, and fill with baking beans. Bake pastry blind for about 15 mins, until the pastry is just beginning to colour. Remove the foil with the beans, turn the oven down gas mark 4 or 180°C, and return the flan tin to the oven for another 10-15 mis until browned. Remove the pastry case from the oven and leave to cool.
5. To make the filling: Slice 75g (2½oz) strawberries and place in a small saucepan, along with the caster sugar and juice of 1 orange (75ml/2½fl oz). Simmer gently until the fruit is soft, then strain through a nylon sieve into a measuring jug, pressing to extract all the juice - you should have about 100ml (3½fl oz).
6. In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatine over 1tbsp water. Leave to soak for 10 mins, until spongy. Dissolve the gelatine by standing bowl in a pan of gently simmering water, until the gelatine turns clear and liquid. Stir into strawberry purée and refrigerate until it just begins to thicken, stirring occasionally.
7. Whip the cream until it just holds its shape, and gradually whisk in icing sugar and about 75ml (2½fl oz) of strained orange juice from the second orange. Spoon half of cream mixture into tart case (keep remainder to serve with the tart) and smooth out.
8. Cut the rest of the strawberries into slices and arrange on cream, so they are overlapping. When the strawberry glaze has begun to thicken, carefully spoon it over the strawberries so they are all covered (this seals the fruit) and brush a little over the top edge of the pastry. Refrigerate tart for 1 hr to set. (Not suitable for freezing).