It’s the simple things in life which bring us most pleasure! This is definitely the case when it comes to enjoying a jam and a lemon curd tart with a cup of tea. These tarts are very easy to make and taste delicious, especially if they are still a little warm from the oven.
We were making mince pies and I had some pastry left and my mum had given us a jar of her very lovely homemade lemon curd so these were begging to be made. Â My eldest daughter loves lemon curd and my youngest loves jam, so I made some of each.
You can make the pastry with 50g of butter or you can use half butter and half lard, it will depend on what you have in the fridge or indeed whether you are catering for vegetarians. I used half lard and half butter this week as we always have lard in the fridge in the winter ready for making the birds some seed cake.
You can use whichever jam is your favourite.
This will make 12 tarts.
25 g (1oz) lard or vegetable fat
25g (1oz) butter
100g (40z) plain flour
cold water to mix ( about 2 tablespoons probably)
12 teaspoons of the jam or curd of your choice ( I used 6 teaspoons of raspberry jam and 6 teaspoons of lemon curd to make 6 tarts of each variety)
Method
I always make my pastry in my food processor because it means less handling and so a flakier pastry. Dice the butter and lard and place in the bowl of the food processor, add the flour and pulse the processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Â Add the cold water and pulse again until a dough just begins to form. Â Take the dough out of the machine and shape into a flattened ball. Â Wrap in a food bag or clingfilm and place in the fridge to chill for 20 mins. Â Roll out on a floured worktop and stamp out rounds using a 7cm fluted cutter. Â Press each round into a hole of a patty tin. Place a teaspoon of jam in each tart. Â Don’t overfill as the jam will spread as it cooks.
Place in a preheated oven at 200°c (gas mark 6) for 15 -20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.  Leave to cool a little before placing on a wire tray.
Miam! I heart lemon curd. You made great tarts! 🙂
Thank you Karine
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I love it, so easy to follow! Also remarkable quite how little I know how to cook >_> why why do they never teach this stuff at school. *noms a lemon tart*
Brilliant Kai, glad you like them. I wish they would teach this at school too. I hope I have you hooked you now.
Hooked hmm… well I have half a dozen jars of lemon curd left *licks lips* it’s gonna be a sweet week for me
Ha ha, well lemon curd is lovely on scones… Are you brave enough to try?
This is great! I’m 17 and I haven’t cooked much and they turned out great! Thanks a lot(:
Hi Sam, I am really pleased they turned out well. I do love jam tarts. If you have cracked pastry then you can cook anything 🙂
THANK YOU good simple ‘old fashioned’ instructions how to make jam and lemon tarts! Haven’t made them since I was at school (same headmaster as Noah!) & I just needed the basic instructions and you came up trumps. Thanks again 🙂
So pleased Vikki. I do love a jam tart.
Hi there I made my own tarts and just found this after, I made jam and lemon the jam were perfect and the lemon curd burnt any ideas why? I only had oven at 180’c for 15 mins
Many thanks
Hi Suzanne,
I am sorry your lemon tarts burned. It is hard to say why this happened as every oven in different. Did you have the lemon ones towards the back of the oven? If so, this might be a hot spot for your oven and you may need to turn the tin half way through cooking next time. If you have a fan assisted oven things always cook quicker so you may need to reduce the baking time. I hope you will try them again and have better luck. Best Kath
Just bake the tart shells, cool them, and then add your lemon curd or jam. There is absolutely no need to bake the curd in the tart, as the curd is already cooked. Same with the jam, there is no need to cook it.
Thank you for your comment Willowsprite, however I quite like the consistency of the cooked jam and lemon curd in my tarts. The way the jam bubbles up the sides of the tarts makes them, for me, much tastier than a spoonful of jam in a tart case.
Richard Maggs’ method of making lemon curd in the simmering oven of an Aga is wonderful and absolutely foolproof. It is great not to have to stand around for 20 minutes stirring all the time. It also lasts for ages in the fridge and is so useful for tarts, scones, toast, victoria sandwiches etc. wonderful. Thanks Richard. Charc.
I have to write to say thank you for showing me how to make, not just pastry, but jam tarts that melt in the mouth. Your mince pies as well. Excellent.
John, I am so pleased! Thank you for your kind comment.
Thank you, can I ask a silly question? Do you think a fan oven is better than convection? Ours is fan and I’m fed up with having to keep turning trays round.
Hi John,
Do you mean conventional rather than convection? My understanding is that a convection oven is a fan oven by another name. A fan oven should not need you to turn the trays around as the fan is supposed to make sure the heat is evenly distributed. Uncovered food typically cooks 25% quicker in a convection or fan oven than a conventional oven. If you do need to turn the trays in your fan oven you may want to get it checked by an oven engineer to check the fan is working correctly.
In terms of which I think is better it is hard to say. I cook solely on an Aga, which is neither fan or conventional, so I am no expert on the use of a fan oven. In my experience though all ovens vary and you need to get to know your oven and adjust cooking times accordingly. I am not sure whether I have been very helpful in my answer. Let me know if you think I could be of further help.
Best wishes
Kath
Hi Kath,
I was confusing the two, sorry… I thought fan ovens were supposed to be the best but how about this; our oven is a 10 month old BOSCH, not cheap but not the dearest and here’s my conundrum..
At first it was baking a loaf perfectly, now it has to be turned round ! !
It seems to have become worse as it’s aged, albeit only a few months.
As I read that you use an AGA I wondered if a conventional oven baked more evenly.
Maybe BOSCH should be receiving my e-mails ! !
Thanks again Kath, I shall contact BOSCH, as a PS, I tried that jusrol shortcrust pastry, we had one in the freezer, and oh dear, nothing like yours, awful to be honest, your methods, and clear concise descriptions are excellent.
THANK YOU again..
John.
John, thank you again for your kind words. They mean a great deal. It is good to know that people get enjoyment from my recipes. I do think you should be calling Bosch. It must still have a couple of months warranty on it and it really shouldn’t be baking unevenly. They need to send you an engineer to fix it or replace it. The Aga works wonderfully at distributing the heat, so I am very spoilt having one in this house. I hope you get the oven issue sorted soon. Kath
Thank you Kath, I will get on to them now.. 🙂
Hello Kath, I must have spent £5.00 or more on the first phone call, they said someone would ring back but didn’t mention it would be a week later, I wasn’t here to answer !!! TYPICAL
My wife is convinced I’m out of warranty, Bosch said there would be an engineer charge even if I WAS in warranty…
Sounds bad service doesn’t it… At the moment I am just turning baking round, a pain but it works and I’m not sure what to do about Bosch.
I might just ring again tomorrow. I will let you know the end result, when I get one.
Thanks for advice it’s appreciated greatly. Take care, John.
Hi Kath,
It seems I may have been the author of my own doom with my oven.
First off it is covered under warranty, 24 months, but that doesn’t help me..
This should serve as a warning to other people as well..
I have been baking bread using a tray of water on the oven floor, the water in the electrics don’t mix, the result is possible fan/other components failing, I am old enough to know better but….. no fool like an old fool…
So that is the reason I have turn my baking round……..
You won’t believe this but if I had booked an engineer visit it would have cost me £79.00, not bad for a call is it… I wonder how much the engineer gets.
There we go problem solved, you are right I should have to turn food round but I can’t risk £79.00 to find out what I now already know.
Have a good Christmas Kath, thanks for your help and PS; your chocolate chip cookies are to die for, they are UNBELIEVABLE thanks again.
You and your family take care,
John. 🙂
Sorry it has taken me so long to reply John, this Christmas thing has run away with me. I am sorry to hear about your oven. You do see the water tray given as instructions in a lot of recipes, and really you should be able to use a bain marie in your cooking.
I am glad you enjoyed the cookies. Wishing you a very happy Christmas without any oven troubles. Best wishes Kath