Strawberry tarts

(makes 12-16)

Perfect for a summer day! 
Actually, in Sydney, the strawberries have been amazing these last few weeks and so i was inspired to go out of my comfort zone and experiment with these strawberry tarts! Making the pastry was a bit more time-consuming than expected, and of course i got carried away trying out all 3 fillings... but they were so cute and tasty when i finished, totally worth it!

Pastry making: 1 hr

Assembly time: 20 min

Ingredients

1 -2 punnets strawberries, halved

2 T jam

Shortcrust pastry

175g plain flour

100g butter, chilled, cubed

2 tbs icing sugar

1 egg yolk

Filling options:

Ricotta

Zest of 1 lemon

250g Ricotta

2 T caster sugar, taste as you go

Crème patisserie

 3 egg yolks

20g plain flour, sifted

50g caster sugar

1 C milk

½ tsp vanilla essence

Chocolate

200g chocolate

2 T cream

Method

1.    To make pastry, process flour, butter, sugar and pinch of salt in a food processor until resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of cold water.

2.   Process until mixture just comes together in a smooth ball. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

3.   In the meantime, make the filling.

To make crème patisserie, place egg yolks, flour and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in a bowl and whisk until pale. Combine milk, remaining sugar and vanilla essence in a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Strain into egg mixture and discard vanilla bean. Return to pan and cook over low heat, stirring for 2-3 minutes or until thickened, then cool

To make chocolate filling, heat chocolate with double boiling method, and add crème when chocolate is melted. Stir through

To make ricotta filling, leave ricotta out to soften for 3-5min, then mix in zest and sugar, tasting as you go

4. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Roll out pastry thinly (2mm thick) on a floured board and use to line muffin tray/ramekins. You can cut into squares/circles to make it look nicer. Prick all over with a fork and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

5.    Bake for 10-12 minutes or until light golden, then cool.

6.   Warm jam in shallow pan until it becomes smooth liquid.

7.   Fill with filling of choice, and add cut strawberries on top, then brush with jam.