RASPBERRY TART FROM THE GARDEN

I love the beginning of every season and find that towards the end of each season I start to get excited at the prospects of the beginning of the next season, it is a wonderful ongoing perpetual circle of sort of hard work, growth, production and Mother Nature's giving and giving back to Mother Nature.

Right now I am at the beginning of summer and just getting a hint of what this season is going to produce and bring, the summer season for me is the start of the bounty to come from all of springs hard work, a bounty of beautiful free homegrown foods, today just a few strawberries are ready along with a few raspberries, blueberries, black currents and rhubarb perfect for scattering on your breakfast, making jam and pie fillings or making individual tarts.

Prep time 15 mins / Cooking time 15 mins

Ingredients

(Makes 2)

Sweet pastry

(makes extra, keep in freezer for next time)

350g plain flour

small pinch of salt

2 beaten eggs

150g softened butter

100g icing sugar

Tart Filling

60 raspberries plus

30 raspberries for the decoration

100g caster sugar

First make the sweet pastry, place the flour on your worktop and create a well in the centre, place the butter in the well and add the sugar on top, using a pecking pinching action, gently incorporate the sugar in to the butter, then add the beaten egg into this mix and incorporate into the butter mix, once incorporated flick the mixture into the flour and slowly incorporate, bring together and form a smooth ball, wrap in parchment paper and place in the fridge for one hour to chill.  Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees.

Meanwhile, place your 60 raspberries in a saucepan with the sugar a gently heat through until soft and syrupy then turn up the heat and bring to a simmer to reduce the raspberries until thick enough so that you can draw a line through the saucepan and see the bottom of the pan for a split second, take off the heat and leave to cool.

Flour your worktop and roll out the sweet pastry, line your tart tins with the pastry, line the pastry with a piece of baking paper and fill the tart case with baking beans or rice and blind bake for ten minutes, then remove the baking beans and baking paper and pop back in the oven for a further three minutes, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly.

Fill your tart cases with the raspberry jam and top with the reserved whole raspberries and enjoy.