Less Noise, More Green: English Afternoon Tea: Jam Tarts

Thursday, February 5, 2015

English Afternoon Tea: Jam Tarts

Jam tarts are a popular British teatime treat. They are simple to make and are a wonderful way to celebrate homemade jams and jellies. We British love our jam and take it quite seriously. My favorite scene from the movie Hope and Glory, set in London during World War Two, is when the dad brings home some jam which has washed up on the beach in crates from a sunken German ship. The family debates whether they should eat it because it could be a Nazi plot to poison them - after all, the Germans know how "mad" we are about jam! If you are also mad about jam these tarts are just the ticket.

Jam Tarts

Makes 18+ tarts

Short Crust Pastry
11/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/4 pound unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 + tbsp. ice water

Filling
At least three different flavors and colors of jam or jelly. I used Meyer Lemon Marmalade, Black Currant Jam and Rhubarb Jam.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a mini tart pan with butter.

Use a tart pan, not a muffin pan. I purchased mine on Amazon.

Make the pastry:
Mix the salt with the flour. Cut the butter into small pieces and rub into the flour with your finger tips until it resembles bread crumbs. Add the ice water and mix the dough into a ball. You may need to add another tablespoon of water if the dough is too dry to come together.

Roll out on a floured surface and cut out rounds using a 3 inch pastry cutter. Gather up the remaining pastry, roll out and cut again until all the pastry is used. Gently press the rounds into the tart pans.

Fill each tart crust with a scant tablespoon of jam. It will not seem like enough but the pastry will shrink and the jam will expand. Use several flavors of jam.

Bake for 15 minutes. When the tarts come out of the oven the jam will be extremely hot. Let them cool for at least thirty minutes before removing from the pan. Let cool until the jam is completely set.

You can top the tarts with whipped cream before eating if you would like. Serve with tea.

Variations:
These tarts are sweet. You can reduce the sweetness by using lemon curd instead of jam or replacing half of the jam with cream cheese. Jalapeno jelly would be an interesting combination with cream cheese.

Other British Teatime Recipes: