Best The Queen Of Hearts Valentines Jam Tarts Recipes

THE QUEEN OF HEARTS - VALENTINE'S JAM TARTS

Steps:

• Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl, add the butter and rub it in using your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
• Use a knife to mix in the water, a little at a time stirring with the knife until the mixture comes together and you can form a ball with your hands.
• Wrap the pastry in a piece of clingfilm and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes - this will make it easier to roll out.
• Turn the oven on to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.
• Sprinkle the work surface and your rolling pin with a little flour and roll the pastry out to about ¼ cm thick.
• Dip the cutter in flour then cut out as many circles as you can - you may need to gather the bits of pastry up and roll them out again to make 12 to 18 circles.(Make sure you leave a little of the pastry scraps for the heart shaped pastry lids!) Once you have the desired amount of pastry cases, roll out the pastry scraps and cut out the required amount of hearts, using a mini heart shaped biscuit/cookie cutter.
• Lay the rounds of pastry in the tart tin, which has been buttered or greased and press them gently into place. Prick the base of each tart once with a fork.
• Put the tart tray into the oven and bake for 6 minutes until the pastry is very pale golden. Using oven gloves take the tray out of the oven.
• Carefully put 1 heaped teaspoon of jam into each tart, and then top them off with a pastry heart. Using oven gloves put the tray back into the oven for 6 minutes.
• Using your oven gloves take the tray out of the oven.
• Leave them to cool for a few minutes then use a palette knife to gently lift the tarts out of the tin and leave to cool completely on a wire rack. Arrange them on an attractive serving plate and sprinkle with caster sugar.

QUEEN OF HEARTS CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line the bases of 2 x 22-23cm straight- sided, loose-bottomed square tins.
• To make the sponges, put the egg yolks and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric whisk until pale. Add the lemon zest and juice, vanilla, semolina, almonds and poppy seeds, then whisk again briefly to mix.
• Clean your beaters, and beat the egg whites in a separate bowl to stiff peaks. Add a quarter of the egg whites to the other mixture and stir in well to loosen. Add the remaining egg whites and, using a big metal spoon, gently fold in until no big lumps of egg white remain. Divide the mixture between the tins, spread the top to smooth and bake for 20 mins until springy to touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave the sponges to cool in the tins.
• When the sponges are cool, start to prepare the filling. Put 400g of the strawberries and the icing sugar in a food processor or blender and whizz to a really smooth purée. Transfer to a saucepan and gently warm. Meanwhile, soak the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water.
• When the purée is hot but you can still put your fingers in it, squeeze out the excess water from the gelatine, take the purée off the heat and stir in the gelatine to melt. Pour into a bowl and put in the fridge to quickly cool. Whip the cream until it is thick and holding peaks.
• Halve the remaining strawberries and trim so they're the same length - so when they are sitting on the sponges, they don't come above the top of the tin. Line up the strawberries all the way around the edge of one of the cakes, cut-sides flat against the side of the tin (see step-by-step). When the purée is cool, fold through the whipped cream until evenly mixed, then pile into the tin, spreading to fill all the strawberry corners, and smooth the surface.
• Remove the remaining sponge from its tin and, using a ruler or skewers and a small heart-shaped cutter, cut 8 hearts from alternating 'squares' - as if your sponge is divided into a 4 x 4 grid (see step-by-step). Turn the cake onto the mousse to top, and peel away the paper. Gently press into the mousse to stick and chill for 5 hrs or overnight to set.
• Just before serving, sieve the jam to remove any lumps, then use to cover the mousse in each heart hole - a small piping bag is good for this (see step-by-step). Finish by cutting 8 squares of baking parchment the same size as your grid squares were. Sit over the 8 heart 'squares' and dust heavily with icing sugar. Carefully lift off the parchment squares, leaving a chessboard pattern on the top, and serve immediately with cake forks and dainty cups of tea. Will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days.

EASY JAM TARTS

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.