Edd Kimber - aka The Boy Who Bakes - knows a thing or two about good cake. Since winning The Great British Bake Off in 2010, Edd has worked in the pastry kitchen at Raymond Blanc's Le Manoir, written two cookbooks and set up his baking blog. And in his spare time? Edd runs monthly macaron masterclasses in London. To celebrate the Bank Holiday weekend, Edd shares his favourite summer recipe with MyDaily below:
English strawberries are just starting to come into season and whilst the weather isn't too nice, it would be lovely to make this recipe over the Bank Holiday and pretend it is warm and sunny outside.
The filling for this tart is a pastry cream lightened with whipped cream (this is called a creme legere) but its a little different. Instead of using milk as the basis of the pastry cream, I use a mix of strawberry puree, lemon and orange juice and is finished with a little Pimm's (or if you can get it - Sipsmith Summer Cup – it's a beautiful drink).
To make five Summer Sunshine Tarts, you will need:
Sweet Pastry
275g plain flour
25g ground almonds
50g icing sugar
1/4 tsp salt
seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod
175g unsalted butter
1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp ice cold water
Strawberry Creme Legere
1 large egg yolk
50g caster sugar
5g plain flour
10g cornflour
250ml fruit juice – I use 1/2 lemon 1/2 orange and about 200ml strawberries
2 tbsp Pimm's or Sipsmith Summer Cup
150ml double cream
450g strawberries to finish the tarts
To make the pastry, place the flour, almonds, icing sugar, salt and seeds from the vanilla pod into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until it resembles uneven breadcrumbs. Mix the egg yolk and water together and add to the mixer and pulse to combine, but don't over process you don't want it to form a solid dough at this point. Tip the mixture out onto the work surface and gently knead to form a uniform dough. Flatten into a disc, wrap in clinglfilm and refrigerate for an hour before using.
While the pastry is chilling make the filling. Place the egg yolk, sugar, plain flour and cornflour into a medium heatproof bowl and whisk to form a thick paste. Place the fruit juices in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium/high heat. Pour the juices over the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Pour the custard mixture back into the pan and place the pan back over the heat and whisk constantly until the mixture comes to a boil then cook a further few minutes. This pastry cream should be very thick. Place the pastry cream into a bowl and press a piece of clingfilm onto the surface. Refrigerate until cool.
For the tarts roll the pastry 2-3mm thick and cut out five discs of pastry big enough to line individual tart tins. Gently press the pastry into the tart tins trimming off any excess. Chill the lined tart tins in the fridge for half an hour or until firm. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line each tart shell with a piece of foil and fill with either baking beans or rice and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully remove the foil and the rice or beans. Place back in the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden.
To assemble the tarts take the chilled pastry cream from the fridge and beat with a whisk to loosen. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream until it holds soft peaks then combine with the pastry cream. Divide this mixture between the tart cases and top with strawberries, a dusting of icing sugar and a little fresh mint. The tarts will be fine for a couple of hours but as they sit out the pastry will begin to soften so don't wait too long to enjoy.
For more recipe inspiration, visit The Boy Who Bakes.
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