MARY BERRY FRUIT TART RECIPES RECIPES

You will need eight 8cm (3in) round, loose-bottomed fluted tartlet tins. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/Gas 6.

To make the pastry, measure the flour, icing sugar and butter into a food processor and whizz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Alternatively, place the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and rub in the butter with your fingertips. Add the egg and whizz again until you have a smooth ball of dough. Wrap the dough in cling film and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle a work surface with flour and roll out the dough until fairly thin – about the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut out eight discs slightly bigger than the tartlet tins. Line each tin with the pastry, on the base and up the sides (see tip), trim across the top and prick the base with a fork.

Line each pastry case with baking paper, fill with a few baking beans and bake blind for about 10 minutes until pale golden and starting to cook . Remove the beans and paper and return to the oven for about 5 minutes to dry out the base and to finish cooking the pastry. Set aside to cool down completely in the tartlet tins.

For the filling, measure the mascarpone and cream into a bowl with the icing sugar and vanilla extract and whisk by hand (see tip) until slightly thickened. Spoon some of the filling into each of the cold tartlet cases and level the top. Arrange slices of strawberry on top of each filled tartlet in a pretty spiral. Heat the redcurrant jelly in a small pan and brush over the strawberry slices to glaze.

Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes, then remove from the tins to serve.

Cook time: 15 minutes, plus chilling and cooling.

Prepare Ahead: Can be made completely up to 4 hours ahead. The tartlet cases can be baked up to a day ahead.

Freeze: The tartlet cases freeze well.

Mary’s Everyday Tips: When lining the tartlet tins with the pastry, be sure not to stretch the pastry, or it will shrink back on cooking. Handle gently and ease the excess pastry from around the edges into the sides and lip of the tin.

1. You can make the pastry by hand, or in a food processor. If making it by hand, sieve the flour and icing sugar into a large mixing bowl from a height.
2. Chop the butter into small cubes, then gently work the it into the flour and sugar with your fingers until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Beat the egg and add to the mix with the milk and gently work it together using your hands until you have a ball. Don’t work the pastry too much or it will become elastic and chewy, not crumbly and short.
4. Sprinkle some flour over the dough and a clean work surface, and pat the ball into a thick flat round. Sprinkle over a little more flour, then wrap the pastry in clingfilm and pop it into the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
5. Lightly oil the inside of a 25cm non-stick loose-bottomed tart tin.
6. Dust a clean surface and a rolling pin with flour, then carefully roll out the pastry, turning it every so often, until you've got a circle about 0.5cm thick.
7. Roll the pastry over the rolling pin, then unroll it into the tin, making sure you push it into all the sides.
8. Trim off any extra pastry, and use it to patch any holes, then prick the base of the case all over with a fork, cover with clingfilm, and pop it into the freezer for 30 minutes.
9. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.
10. Line the pastry case with a large piece of greaseproof paper, pushing it right into the sides.
11. Fill the pastry case right up to the top with uncooked rice, and bake blind for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Take the case out, carefully remove the rice (save it for baking blind another time) and greaseproof paper, and return the case to the oven to cook for a further 10 minutes, until it’s firm and almost biscuit-like. Leave to cool completely.
12. Finely grate most of the orange zest into a bowl and whisk with 2 tablespoons of vanilla sugar and the cream until you get a silky mixture that forms soft peaks.
13. Put half the berries into another bowl and use a fork to mash them up with the remaining tablespoon of vanilla sugar. Break up the meringue nests into rough pieces.
14. Gently fold the mushed-up berries, and the meringue pieces, into the cream.
15. Tip the cream mixture into the cooled tart case and gently shake it to help spread it out to the edges. Use a spatula or the back of a spoon to spread it out evenly, then sprinkle the remaining berries all over the top.
16. Finely grate over the remaining orange zest and serve right away, with a dusting of icing sugar.