Jam tarts

1. Put the flour and butter into a large bowl; rub together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, sprinkle with the egg mixture then quickly work into a clumpy dough, using a cutlery knife. Press together with your hand, then knead the dough against the side of the bowl until smooth. Wrap and chill for at least 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190˚C, gas mark 5.

2. Lightly flour the worktop and a rolling pin, then roll the pastry to the thickness of a £1 coin. Stamp out 12 circles using an 8cm fluted or straight pastry cutter. Use to line a 12-hole tart tin, then ease and flatten the pastry over the rim of each hole by about 5mm. Fill each with 1 heaped tsp jam, spreading it out evenly.

3. Decorate the edges of the tarts with a cocktail stick. Brush a little egg white around the edges if liked and, if you want to decorate with pastry trimmings, brush those too. Chill for 10 minutes to firm up the pastry. Bake for 14-16 minutes until the pastry is pale golden and the jam is bubbling. Allow to cool before removing from the tin.

If making your own jam;
1. Put the fruit in a large saucepan, add the sugar and lemon juice, then heat gently until the sugar dissolves and the fruit has defrosted, about 10-15 minutes. Put a saucer into the freezer.

2. Boil the jam hard for 5 minutes, then take the cold saucer out of the freezer and drop a little jam onto it. Allow to cool for a few seconds, then push the jam with your finger. If it wrinkles, it's ready. If not, boil for another minute and try again until it does wrinkle. Allow the jam to settle for 10 minutes, then put into a sterilised jar to store.