Mini Jam Tarts Recipes

Steps:

• Mix flour, shortening, sugar, and salt together in a food processor until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add water and mix until a ball is formed. Refrigerate pastry until well chilled, at least 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 24 shallow muffin cups.
• Roll pastry out thin; cut into rounds with a cookie cutter. Place each round in a muffin cup. Add 2 teaspoons of jam to each cup.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool tarts on a wire rack.

Steps:

• Make the crust: In a food processor, pulse to combine flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.
• Combine 1 egg yolk with the water and drizzle evenly over flour mixture. Pulse just until dough comes together. Press dough into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, 1 hour or up to 1 day.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough just thinner than 1/4 inch. Cut out round or square shapes and press into 2- to 3-inch tartlet tins. Trim excess dough flush with rims; fill each shell with 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons jam, and decorate tops with cutouts or thin strips of dough. (Assembled tarts can be refrigerated for several hours.)
• Combine remaining egg yolk with the cream; lightly brush over dough. Bake until pastry is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Unmold tarts and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon; process for 10 seconds. Add butter and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, 15 to 20 seconds.
• Combine 1 egg yolk with 2 tablespoons ice water and add to flour mixture. Process until the dough comes together, about 7 seconds. Transfer to a clean work surface and compress into a flattened circle.
• Lightly dust the work surface with flour; roll out dough to just thinner than 1/4 inch. Using a round or square cookie cutter, cut out shapes and press into 2- to 3-inch tartlet tins or a small muffin-top pan. Shape crust as desired, fill each with 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons jam, and decorate tops with cutouts of dough. At this point, the tarts can be refrigerated for several hours.
• Combine remaining egg yolk with cream; lightly brush exposed dough with egg wash. Bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer tarts from tins to a wire rack to cool.

Steps:

• Roll out the shortcrust pastry on a lightly floured surface to just under the thickness of £1 coin. Stamp out 20 x 5cm circles using a pastry cutter and line 2 mini muffin tins (or make in 2 batches).
• Prick with a fork and spoon 1 tsp jam into each (we used apricot, blackcurrant and strawberry). Stamp out shapes from the leftover pastry to decorate the tarts, if you like.
• Bake at 200C/180C fan/gas 6 for 12-15 mins, until the pastry is golden.

Steps:

• Put the flour, butter and a pinch of salt in a bowl and rub them together with your fingertips (or you can pulse these ingredients together in a food processor if you have one). When the mixture looks and feels like fresh breadcrumbs, stir in the egg and vanilla seeds, if using, with a cutlery knife. Add 1 tbsp cold water, then start to bring the dough together in one lump with your hands - try not to knead it too much. Add 1 more tbsp of water if it's not coming together, but try not to add more than that. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 mins.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Butter a 12-hole tart tin, then dust your work surface with flour. Unwrap and roll out the chilled pastry so it's about the thickness of a £1 coin, then use a straight or fluted round cutter to cut out 12 circles, big enough to line the holes in the tin. Dollop 1-2 tsp of your chosen filling into each one and, if you like, cut out little pastry hearts (perfect for Valentine's Day) and pop them on top.
• Bake for 15-18 mins or until golden and the filling is starting to bubble a little. Leave to cool in the tin for a few mins then carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.