Jam Tarts

How I got round to making a jam tart is a long story.  We bought a papaya at the supermarket and waited for it to ripen. It did turn yellow and it looked like we had a fruit ready to eat.  That was on the outside, in the inside it was half ripe and didn't look as if it would ripen anymore.  So, it got me making a jam.

                                                  The colour is natural.  The taste was good.

And that is when I thought of making a jam tart.  I had the tart cases that C had given me.  They were rather on the larger side, and so instead of six I ended up making four tarts.

The recipe from here  is so very simple.

Plain flour - 110 gms
Unsalted butter, chilled - 50 gms ( I didn't have butter !  and so I used ghee)
Salt - pinch
Jam - as required
Icing sugar to dust ( optional)
Cream ( optional)
Cold water

Sift flour in a bowl.  Add the salt.  And the cubes of butter
Use fingers to rub in to flour so that it resembles breadcrumbs
Add a tablespoon of cold water and mix with a fork
Add a little more till it comes together like a soft smooth ball
Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes

Take out after half hour
Lightly dust a rolling surface
Roll out gently
Cut out circles, slightly larger than the tart tin ( my cases were big and I didn't quite do that)

Grease the tart cases well
Use the cut circles of flour to line the tart cases
Refrigerate again for 10 minutes

At this time preheat the oven to 180F

You can gently prick the pastry with a fork
Line pastry shells with baking paper and fill with rice, seeds or pastry beads
Bake for 10 minutes
Remove the paper with the rice/beans/weights

Fill with jam
Bake for further 8 minutes
Till brown
Remove.  Cool thoroughly.  The jam will be  hot too so make sure it has cooled.

Dust icing sugar on top or serve with a bit of cream like I did