Jam Tarts

Time

Food

4 3 2 1 Early-Mid Stages

Benefits

Participants

One to One or Group Activity

What you need

Jams, marmalades, curds
Frozen shortcrust pastry (defrosted before use ?)
Pastry cutter – around 8cm in diameter
Cake baking tray
Rolling pin

Intro

Alice in Wonderland’s Queen of Hearts loves jam tarts! But don’t we all?! It’s impossible to resist that delicious crumbly pastry filled with your favourite jam.

This quick and simple recipe is great for mornings when you have a little spare time on your hands. Unlike some bakes, you get to the eating very quickly. Brilliant!

No need to faff around making pastry (unless you want to, of course), as the bought kind is fine. This activity is good for a 1-on-1 or with a small group of around 4

The Activity

Gather everyone in the kitchen (this is best) – or around a table where they can smell the delicious bake
Line up the jams, marmalades and curds, and get everyone talking about what their favourite is and why
If in a small group, ask each person in turn to have a go at helping with each step, or some might like casting a watchful eye and giving advice on what to do
Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan or gas mark 6
Put a little grease into the cake tray, so the pastry won’t stick
Unravel the pastry – if it’s too thick, roll it to approx. 0.5cm
If there’s more than 1 of you, get one baker to cut out 12 circles (you can make more later)
Another baker can place the circles in the cake tray, pressing them down gently so they mould into the shape
Everyone can then dollop 1-2 teaspoons of their favourite filling into the pastry
Pop them in the oven and bake for 15-18 minutes
While waiting, you can either prepare some more pastry for the next batch, have a clean-up – or just sit, chat and reminisce about baking days of the past
Once the filling is bubbling a little and the pastry golden, take them out of the oven and leave to cool for a moment before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely
Once fully cooled, stick the kettle or percolator on and enjoy these delicious little treats with a tea or coffee