The Jolly Good Food book, by Allegra McEvedy was new out last year and we haven’t gotten around to looking at it, but I thought I’d share a recipe with you from it, for everyone to try!

Ingredients – For the pastry

• 225g plain flour, extra for dusting
• 110g unsalted butter – cut into pieces
• 25g caster sugar
• 1 orange
• 1 egg beaten
• sea salt

Ingredients – for the filling

• 24 teaspoons of your favourite jams (I assume you don’t actually need 24 teaspoons!)
• 1 egg yolk beaten

You will also need two 12 holed tart tins and a pastry cutter.

Steps:

1. Pastry – put the flour in a mixing bowl and add the butter cubes. Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour so it looks like breadcrumbs.
2. Stir in the caster sugar, pinch of salt and finely grated orange peel.
3. Pour in the beaten egg and mix into the breadcrumb mix.
4. Bring the pastry together into a ball ad wrap it in cling film. Put it in the fridge and leave to chill for 30mins or a bit longer if you have time.
5. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius/160 fan/ gas mark 4. When the time is up, take the pastry from the fridge, roll it out to about 0.5cm thick.
6. Using the cutter, cut out 24 rounds of pastry. Place and press these down into the trays.
7. Use a fork and prick the bottom of the tart case and then start putting your jam into each case.
8. Using a pastry brush, brush the eggwash along the edges of the pastry so its nice and golden when its cooked.
9. Pop in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden and the jam is bubbling and oozy.
10. Take them out of the oven and leave to sit in the tin for a few minute, then sing a palette knife to get them out and then on a wire rack.

So there we are, Allegra McEvedy’s jam tarts. Do you think they’d be worthy of  our Enid Blyton heroes? I suggest we make them and see. Other recipes can be found in Jolly Good Food.

An alternative jam tart recipe can be found in Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer by Jane Brockett.