Strawberry Jam Tarts

I am teaching my beaver group about the Queen therefore have baked a couple of treats for a 'tea party'. The first is some shortcrust pastry strawberry jam tarts.

I have to admit, the jam is not homemade, however these are made of short and crisp pastry, and the jam is sweet and deliciously fruity. They are some delicious 'queen of heart's tarts'!

Recipe - Makes 16

• 140g plain flour
• 60g butter, diced
• 1/2 tbsp icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp cold water
• 200g strawberry jam

Put the flour in a bowl and add the butter. Rub in to form breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar to well dispersed then add enough water to bring the mix together to form a slightly soft dough. Tip out onto a work surface and knead for a few seconds to bring together.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface to 3-5mm thick and cut rounds using a floured 6cm fluted cutter. Use them to line 16 holes of shallow bun tins, pressing up the edges to level with the rim. Place in the fridge and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190C and place a baking tray inside to heat up. Meanwhile, spoon the jam into a bowl and mix to break it down and soften it slightly. Remove the bun tin from the fridge and add enough jam to fill each of the pastry cases to two thirds full.

Place the bun tins on the preheated baking tray and bake for 15 minutes, or until the jam is bubbling and the pastry browned. Leave in the tin to cool for a few minutes for the pastry to firm up and jam to set before easing each tart out and placing on a wire rack to cool.