Berry Good

I have to open with an apology for this recipe - I threw it together and took no real measurements of what I used.  If you're a keen cook, you should have no problem recreating these as they are super simple, you will just have to use a bit of "feel" to guess what's right!


As I say, I threw these together for a quick dessert and this normally includes me rummaging around the cupboards, fridge and freezer to see what I might be able to cobble together.  Frozen berries are one of my all time favourite standbys (along with frozen peas!) because they add so much colour to whatever you are cooking.  They are also incredibly versatile and can be used in anything from smoothies to cakes to coulis.

I also tend to have some form of pastry floating around the freezer.  Pastry is something I tend to make double amounts of so I can rustle something up quickly (if I take it out of the freezer in time of course!).  It's not that I hate making pastry, its just...well, I don't know.  It's just not my favourite kitchen pastime!


Eggs, milk, cream and sugar are my staples.  And by this point, you can probably see where I am going with this!  Berry and custard filled tartlets anyone?

I used my small tart tins (again! I am loving them!) which are around 10cm across.  You will need enough frozen berries to fill them about 3/4 full (so you have space for custard and pastry).  You can make as any as you like, as there will be plenty of pastry and ample custard. Defrost the berries before using them and drain off any juice.




Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
As I mentioned, this will make far more than you need. Simply place the extra in a freezer bag and freeze until next time!


8oz/200g plain flour
4oz/100g butter
3-4 tbsp icing sugar
1 egg


Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz until you have a pastry.  You will probably need to add a little water too.  Roll the pastry into a ball and wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for around 20 minutes to rest.  Preheat the oven to 180C


After 20 minutes, flour your work surface well and roll out the pastry.  Make sure it isn't rolled too thin.  This pastry is not the easiest to work with, but as you are only making small discs of pastry it should be a little easier.  Cut out pastry to fit the tart tins, trim and cover with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans.  Bake blind for around 10 minutes.


Custard Filling
While the pastry is baking, you can make your custard.  This makes around 1/2  pint (250ml) of custard which will be ample for 4 tarts. 


4 fl oz/100ml double cream
2tbsp caster sugar
drop of vanilla essence
2 eggs
milk to make the custard up to 1/2 pint or 250ml.


Whisk all the ingredients together well, and then strain through a sieve. 


Building the tartlets
Remove the pastry cases from the oven.  Take out the greaseproof paper and beans.  Fill the cases with berries and then pour over the custard to the top.  Carefully transfer the tarts back to the oven and bake for around 20 minutes until the top is turning golden and the custard is set.


There is nothing technical about these, so you should find them easy enough to make.  And even easier to eat of course!  Serve warm with mascarpone or creme fraiche.  The berries add a lovely sharpness to the creamy custard. Mmm.