The Strawberry Tart!

Strawberry Tarts

This recipe is so old I can't remember when – probably as far back as 1986 ish.

Rich shortcrust pastry

as per the recipe given

Filling

250g mascarpone cheese

165g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp lemon juice

Strawberries, hulled and sliced finely

Glaze

2 tbsp apricot jam, sieved

1 tbsp water

On a lightly floured board, roll out pastry thinly and cut into circles with a fluted 7cm cutter. Line two 12 tartlet trays – or place sweet shortcrust tart cases on a baking tray and prick bases. Bake at 160fan/180c/Gas 4 for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Beat together the mascarpone cheese, sugar, vanilla and lemon juice. Place a tablespoon of cheese mixture in each tart.

Arrange the strawberries decoratively over the top.

Heat the jam and water in a small saucepan over moderate heat until smooth. Brush over tarts and allow to set before serving.

The recipe for the filling will give you sufficient for 24 tarts – perfect for a summer party dessert. Halve the filling recipe for the 12 tart cases or double the pastry recipe if you're going for 24!

These tarts are small, which is great, the size of a jam tart, so perfectly poppable into the mouth.

Use whatever fruit takes your fancy or mix it up – my fancy was strawberries, it's worth the effort of hulling – the finished article looks like this :

If you don't like the idea of making pastry then a shortbread stack would work well.

The mascarpone cream is also good enough to stand alone – by that I mean it's delicious enough with a bowl of fresh fruit.

If you want to make your own pastry ...

No-churn strawberry ice cream

There's only one thing wrong with home-made ice cream you need an ice cream maker – or so they say – there are delicious no-churn versions out there and the following recipe is easy!

No-churn strawberry ice cream

The recipe will give you 960g

750g/1½lb strawberries

juice of two lemons

1 x 397g condensed milk

300g light brown muscovado sugar

Top the strawberries, cut in half or quarters if large then blitz to a purée, add the lemon juice. Tip the blitzed berries into a large sieve and allow the purée to pass through. As you're passing the strawberries there's no need to hull the berries.

Place the condensed milk and brown sugar into a large mixing bowl and whisk on high for 10 minutes. I used a hand whisk. Eventually the sugar is beaten into the condensed milk and will give you a ribbon effect. Set your timer and have patience – it's worth it. You can help your strawberry pulp through the sieve with the back of a metal spoon. Fold into your sugar and condensed milk and mix until combined. I split the mixture into two boxes. Freeze for at least 6 hours. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving – no longer – it softens very quickly.

If you want a perfect scoop dip the scoop into boiling water and pat dry.

As the cook I think you're entitled to taste the ice cream ahead of serving. I confess I'm not a huge fan as a rule but I was intrigued so I took a teaspoonful as I boxed it – one word - “wow” - I ditched the spoon and took another, just to be sure.

Yum!

Plant your strawberries!

For those who want a plant based Sticky Toffee Sauce here's a recipe that'll do the trick. It's quick and easy and a perfect combination with strawberries and Swedish Glacé – the vegan and dairy free ice cream alternative.

Sticky Toffee Sauce

200ml Elmlea Plant Double Vegan

Alternative cream

40g Flora unsalted plant butter

100g dark soft brown sugar

Mix the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to the boil, then reducing to a medium heat, stirring until thickened – 2 minutes!

It freezes well.

Swedish Glacé is easily obtainable from supermarkets and in a choice of flavours – vanilla, raspberry and chocolate to name but three!

If you want help identifying here's a photo :

Next up … a no-churn strawberry ice cream!

How about some helpful photos!

 

The piping bag cut to size

“glue” your parchment to the tray

Hold the nozzle approximately

4cms above the tray and squeeze

the bag gently and then tilt the

bag away in an upward direction

so that you create a little kiss curl

Peel the kisses gently from the parchment

and you can see there's no trace of where

the meringue mixture has been

You can store them in strong food bags or

in tins lined with parchment with well

fitting lids. Alternatively you can buy

pretty glass jars with well fittings lids

like this one.

Store in a cool dry place – NOT in the

fridge and they'll keep for 2 weeks -

if they last that long!

If you'd like a plant based sticky toffee sauce ...

How about a meringue kiss?

Meringue kisses are another perfect addition to your strawberry fest! You can cheat and buy tubs of ready-made meringue kisses. The quality of the ready-made varies, some are better than others, some are powdery and overly sweet, some not so but disintegrate as soon as you look at them – a slight exaggeration may be! It has to be said that the shop bought version has a much longer life than home-made.

If you want to have a go and make your own here's my basic meringue recipe :

4 fl oz egg whites – from large eggs

225g/8oz caster sugar

As is always my mantra, get yourself sorted before you start whisking.

Your oven should be pre-heated 90fan/110c/Gas ¼ – very cool/very slow.

Cut your parchment to size for two baking sheets measuring 30x30 cms.

You'll need a large, squeaky clean mixing bowl, a plain nozzle and a piping bag. If you want to be sure you've got a squeaky clean bowl then wipe it with a drop of lemon juice and let is dry before use.

Whisk your eggs whites until they are stiff – the old fashioned way of testing whether they are stiff enough is to tip the bowl upside down over your head – if the mixture doesn't move it's ready! Add half the caster sugar and whisk again until stiff. Fold in the remaining sugar. Your mixture is now ready for the piping bag.

The great thing about disposable piping bags is that you can cut them to size. The end of the bag is snipped to fit your nozzle. Fold the bag over your hand – it enables you to have a steady hold on your bag. Spoon the mixture into the bag until two thirds full and gently ease the mixture towards the nozzle expelling any air. Twist the top of the bag and hold and then use your other hand to steady the nozzle end.

Place a tiny blob of mixture in each corner of your baking trays and “glue” your parchment to the tray.

Holding the nozzle approximately 4cms above the tray squeeze the bag gently and then tilt the bag away in an upward direction so that you create a little kiss curl – hence “kisses”!

Bake for 45 minutes.

Peel the kisses gently from the parchment.

This recipe will give you approximately 40 kisses. You can store them in strong ziploc type bags or in tins lined with parchment with well fitting lids. Store in a cool, dry place – NOT in the fridge and they'll keep for 2 weeks – if they last that long!

Here are some helpful photos ...

Speaking of ice cream …

… you don't need an ice cream maker – here's a no-churn recipe that I've used for years – imagine my surprise when it made an appearance in July's edition of Waitrose Food Simply Summer Chic!

Vanilla ice cream

Prep – 5 minutes

Total time – 5 minutes

plus freezing at least 6-8 hours

or until firm

Gives you 1.6 litres of ice cream is equal

to 18 scoops

1 x 397g tin sweetened condensed milk

1 x 600ml double cream

2tsp vanilla bean paste

1. Put the condensed milk, cream and vanilla into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk until the mixture is quite thick and stiff, like pipeable whipped cream.**

2. Spoon the mixture into a lidded freezer-proof container and free for at least 6-8 hours or until firm – it's a good idea to split the ice cream into say 4 to 6 scoop size of container.

** My variation – make your own Sticky Toffee Sauce or use a jar of shop bought (260g) and fold into the mixture to give a marbled effect.

My tip is take it out of the freezer and let it soften a little before you serve it - with or without the variation it's delicious.

Just in case you should decide to make your own, here's the recipe :

Sticky Toffee Sauce

4oz unsalted butter

8oz soft brown sugar

2oz chopped stem ginger (optional)

10 fl oz double cream (or whipping cream)

Heat together the butter, sugar and ginger. When dissolved add the cream.

Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring.

The stem ginger in this recipe is optional but it makes a good addition when serving the sauce as an accompaniment to nursery puddings and ice cream.

One batch of the recipe produces approximately 539g of the sauce, or, over two portions to fold through ice cream – so it would be a good idea to divide the sauce into two – freeze one portion for next time or for another use. A shop bought sauce is usually 260g per jar.

Another tip - I think you'll find that making your own sauce it is less sweet and really enhances the vanilla ice cream – definitely worth the effort!

Hmm – how about a meringue kiss?

You could try …

… a strawberry compote – you have a choice here – to blitz or not to blitz this is the question – simply if you are going to blitz and pass the strawberries then you needn't hull them. If you intend leaving the compote as is then I would hull them at the beginning of the recipe.

Strawberry compote

500g ripe strawberries, hulled

4 tbsp caster sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

Cut the strawberries in half – or quarters if large – place in a large saucepan with the sugar and lemon juice. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved and then simmer. Cover and cook for 3/5 minutes until dark in colour and syrupy. Compote can be store in fridge for up to 2 weeks. Again you can split the batch into two and freeze one for a rainy day.

If you prefer a smooth compote blitz and pass through a sieve.

Perfect with ice cream!

… and speaking of ice cream