Mini Jam Tarts

Mini Jam Tarts are a nice change for the cookie tray. 

These are sweet and simple to make with a perfect crisp buttery pastry. Making an assortment is easy.

Miniature muffin tins are ideal. Mine had a base of 1¾” (4.5cm). I used a fluted 2½” (6cm) cookie cutter.

A small amount of jam is added and spread around a little, but it will bubble as it bakes and spreads.  How much jam really? Well, that depends on taste and the real size of your pastry tin.

Think of if you were spreading a good bit of jam on a plain biscuit or toast when you felt like something sweet, taking into consideration the pastry rim.

Any good cooked jam or preserves will be great, not the refrigerator set type.

When adding the jam try to keep it centred.  If there is too much jam, or if it touches the pan and bakes, they will not release very easily.

Otherwise, they pop right out.

How to Make Mini Jam Tarts

For the Pastry

1. Put the egg yolk in a liquid measuring cup and add enough water to equal ¼ cup (63mL). Add an ice cube and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, icing sugar and salt.  

3. Cut in the cold cubed butter until it gets smaller. 

4. Continue this way until the butter is the size of small peas or rub the mixture between your palms and fingers so the butter flattens and all eventually becomes crumbly. 

If using a food processor, add the cold cubed butter to the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is very small.

5. Add 4 tablespoons of the cold egg water and give it a stir until it comes together.

For the food processor, pulse just until it clumps together.

Dump this into a medium bowl.

6. Bring the pastry dough together and form a tight ball.

7. Flatten the dough and wrap to prevent drying and refrigerate for at least an hour for the glutens to relax so you don’t have a tough dough and it makes rolling easier.

Mix or pulse the dough until it clumps together

Wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least an hour.

8. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C)

9. Grease tins with oil or with a non-stick spray.

10. On a well floured surface roll the pastry dough quite thin. Less than ¼”, about half of a centimetre.

11. I cut with a floured 2½” (6cm) cutter and let the pastry settle into the tins.

12. Add a small amount of jam to the centre of the tart.

The greased pan and the floured pastry will ensure no sticking, just try to keep the jam from touching the sides. This means not overfilling because the jam will bubble up during baking.

I added ½ tsp of jam to the unbaked pastry and spread it around a bit with the back of a knife. 

13. Bake filled tarts in a preheated 375°F (190°C) oven for about 15 minutes.

Be careful of the filling, you will see that it is bubbling hot.

14. Remove from the oven and cool before removing from tins.

These will keep well on the counter for at least a few days.

Don’t refrigerate because the pastry gets tough.

If you need to keep them longer, I would suggest freezing.  Thaw them uncovered out on a counter.