JAM TARTS
Jam tarts are one of those simple, delicious things that I remember consuming in droves in my childhood, but not so much as an adult. I always have flour in the cupboard and jam in the fridge, and this makes for a lovely rainy-day activity for small children to help with. Of course, you can cheat with jam tarts and buy some ready to roll shortcrust pastry, but where’s the fun in that? Fill them with any jam you like, or lemon curd, or to feed my peanut-butter-and-jam obsession, I work a little peanut butter into the pastry mixture and fill with smooth strawberry jam…
Makes about 6 tarts, depending on the size of your cookie cutter:
50g butter, or 25g butter and 25g lard, plus extra to grease the muffin tray
120g plain flour, plus extra to knead the dough
1 tablespoon cold water
6 heaped teaspoons of jam
Preheat the oven to 180C and pop a tablespoon or wooden spoon into the freezer. Lightly grease a 6 cup muffin tray with butter or oil, and set to one side.
Chop the butter – or butter and lard – into small cubes and toss into a large mixing bowl. Add the flour and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture starts to look like fine breadcrumbs. If your hands start to become warm, rinse them under a cold tap.
Add a tablespoon of cold water to the floury breadcrumb mixture, remove the spoon from the freezer and use it to mix the dough together.
Briefly knead the dough on a floured worktop and press or roll out until approximately 0.5cm thick. (I don’t usually use a rolling pin, I find that a bottle or my palms work just fine.) Using a pastry cutter or a tea cup, cut circles from the pastry that are slightly bigger than the muffin cups.
One at a time, gently press a pastry circle into each cup of the muffin tray. Repeat until all the dough is used up. Pop a heaped teaspoon of jam into each pastry case, being careful to only fill two-thirds full, as the jam will bubble and spill when cooked.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove and allow to cool before serving.
Tip: These will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days after baking. They also freeze beautifully – allow to cool, then freeze in a freezer bag or airtight container. Defrost in a microwave or oven on a low heat.
Queen Of Hearts Jam Tarts, from A Girl Called Jack by Jack Monroe. Published by Michael Joseph at Penguin, available to order at The Hive, supporting your local independent book stores. Also available at other online retailers and major supermarkets.
Jack Monroe || Twitter: @MsJackMonroe || http://www.agirlcalledjack.com
Photography by Susan Bell: http://www.susanbellphotography.com
Categories: Recipes & Food, SNACKS & TREATS, VEGETARIAN
COOKING ON A BOOTSTRAP 
Brilliant! Love the spoon in the freezer and warm hands tip, my hands are always warm and I never have much luck with pastry but that is a great idea, who knew lol! Thanks Jack x
I haven’t seen such great looking jam tarts since I was a child. They look fabulous.
Something I learnt through trial and error, and through my boys loving lots of jam when they were small, was to only put a small teaspoon of jam or curd into each one so there was no chance of it bubbling over the top of the case during cooking, and then when they came out of the oven and the jam was still molten hot to add another good spoonful then stirring it into the hot jam.
Fully filled jam tarts with no sticky pastry 🙂
Excellent tip, thank you!
Excellent tip, thank you! Shame I just popped them into the oven but next time…
I prefer a mix of butter and lard in my pastry …I think you get a better texture…what does everyone else think??…Im guessing it was a wartime idea and its the way my Nan taught me
to make pastry….jam tarts are a favourite especially with home made jam!
Hi are these from your new cookbook, is it out yet? When is it due out? Best wishes. Deirdre I.O.M..
Delicious i LOVE jam tarts
Reblogged this on For what it's worth……. and commented:
Cheap, popular…even I could make some!
hIHi Jack, what filter did you use to shoot these with? Gorgeous photo. Stained glass Jam Tarts!
Those jam tarts sound lovely
Will bake some in morning .
Thanks for the great recipes
These jam tarts are amazing!
Such a good idea to mix a little peanut butter in the pastry. Gonna give this a go tonight! Already excited!
These look amazing. I will be trying them out tonight. 😀 I make my own jam so I have everything needed.
Mmmmmm, just baked these with my girls. I’ve never had much luck with pastry but this was delicious, crumbly, and buttery.
Thanks for the tips.
Love your book.
Charlotte.
Great summer holiday activity. I always mix pastry with a knife rather than a spoon, there’s no bowl for the dough to hide in. Also, they don’t last for the time stated, they get eaten the same day their made!
They’re!
These look like something I could make and would tasty, however I don’t have a muffin tray. I’m guessing they would collapse just on a tray, Is there any variant shape I could make? Thank you!
I just finished making some with blackberry jam and they are delicious! Thanks for the recipe:)
oh wow, i remember making these as a kid. Old school classic.
Simon