Diet and Travel

This recipe makes a 10”/ 25cm tart; serves 8.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

• 200g plain flour
• 4 tablespoons icing sugar
• 100g margarine
• 1 egg (beaten)

For the crème pâtissière:

• 200ml milk
• 1 vanilla pod, deseeded
• 2 egg yolks
• 40g sugar
• 15g cornflour

To decorate:

• 18 strawberries, hulled and halved (depending on their size!)
• 2-3 tablespoons strawberry jelly

Method:

1. Begin by preparing the pastry. Mix the flour and icing sugar together. Add the margarine and rub into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and stir to combine.
2. Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for thirty minutes or so, while you prepare the crème pâtissière.
3. Make the crème pâtissière – follow this bit of the recipe to the letter, you don’t want to end up with scrambled egg! Beat the sugar and eggs together; whisk in the cornflour. Set the egg mixture to one side. Put the milk and vanilla seeds in a saucepan. Put the saucepan on a low-medium heat (if using an AGA, use the ring on the right hand side, and keep the saucepan half on half off the heat) and stir gently. When the milk is starting to boil (look for little bubbles on the surface) remove the saucepan from the heat and tip the milk mixture into the egg mixture; whisk thoroughly, pour everything back into the saucepan and return to the heat. Once the mixture starts to boil, allow it to ‘cook’ for three minutes; continue to stir the mixture so it doesn’t stick to the pan. Once ‘cooked’, transfer to a bowl and allow to cool in the fridge.
4. Grease a 10”/ 25cm tart tin with margarine and lightly flour it. Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll it out to a thickness of approximately 0.5cm. Transfer it to the tin – you might want to use a rolling pin to help!
5. Blind bake the pastry for 12-15 minutes at 180°C, or until golden. To do this, either use a fork to make small holes in the surface of the pastry, or cover the pastry in greaseproof paper and put ceramic beads on top. Remove from the oven (remove beads if used) and allow to cool; once cool, remove the pastry from the tin and transfer to a plate.
6. Pour the crème pâtissière into the pastry case and spread it around evenly.
7. Top with strawberries in rows.
8. Spread a thin coating of jelly over the berries.
9. Store in the fridge (for up to 3 days), serve cool and enjoy!

Tips:

• Switch the margarine for butter if you prefer a richer pastry.
• The vanilla pod can be substituted for 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla essence, or omitted entirely.