Easy jam tart

I like jam but … I don’t really love it, so we always seem to have half-eaten jars of jam in the fridge hanging around for months, and unopened jars in the pantry lurking around for a few years. This tart uses up quite a bit of jam so it’s a good thing to have around when you’re going through a pantry and fridge clean-out, while trying to be thrifty and environmentally conscious and eat left-over food, instead of just chucking it in the bin. Plus, it’s really delicious, which you can tend to forget in the lulls between when you make it.

Not only is easy to make, it’s a sturdy and transportable and so perfect for picnics, lunch parties or pot luck afternoon teas. I made this with a jar of quince jam, which I made an enormous batch of last year. Quince jam can be quite difficult to get through in our house, as my son doesn’t like it, so it’s up to the adults to heroically to try and eat our way through it. I used an entire jar in this tart, so I’ve got about six more to go. I’ve also got an enormous jar of Polish plum jam to get through, so it looks like we’ll be eating jam tarts for quite a while.

Easy jam tart

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

• 1½ cups of plain flour
• ½ cup of corn meal or polenta
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 130 grams (4½ ounces) butter (softened)
• ½ cup of granulated sugar
• 1 large egg whole
• 1 large egg yolk (keep the egg white for brushing top of tart)
• ¹/8 teaspoon almond extract
• 1¾ cups jam or marmalade
• 2 tablespoons coarse crystal or granulated sugar

1. Grease a 23 cm (9 inch) tart tin or spring form tin.
2. Whisk together flour, cornmeal salt and baking powder
3. In a stand mixer or food processor, cream butter and sugar. Add whole egg and yolk and almond essence, mix until blended.
4. Gently pulse or fold in flour mixture until pastry just comes together.
5. Take about ⅓ of the pastry roll it into a log wrap in glad wrap. Press the remaining pastry into the tart or springform tin so it covers the bottom and comes up the sides (about 1–2 cms). Place log and tart tin in fridge for one hour or freezer for half an hour until pastry is firm.
6. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
7. Spread jam in tart case and slice pastry log in thin circles and arrange on top of jam. Brush pastry medallions with egg white and sprinkle with coarse sugar.
8. Bake in oven for about 20–25 minutes until golden.