Gemstone Fruit Tarts

These fruity bites are the perfect little sweet pastry to treat yourself with...all made with real fruit!  

The beautiful thing about this recipe is just how easy it is to make your own flavours. I experimented with blueberry, apricot and strawberry, but you can experiment with so many other fruits and jams, such as apple, blackcurrant, raspberry, mango, cherry...the list goes on! 

Recipe: 

To make 12 mini tarts 

You'll Need

• Shortcrust pastry 
• 8 tbsp sugar 
• 8 tbsp water 
• 1/2 cup chopped fruit of choice 
• 1 tbsp lemon juice 

How To:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan). 
2. Roll out your pastry on a floured surface and form into tiny tart shells. I used a glass to cut mine into circles, ensuring each tart shell is equal in size. Once this is done, place each shell into a cupcake baking tray lined with grease proof paper (or thoroughly oiled). 
3. Bake in the oven for around 12-15 mins until light golden brown. If the centre starts to rise, add some baking beans, dried lentils or rice to the middle to weigh it down as it bakes. 
4. In a saucepan, add your sugar, lemon, water and chopped fruit and simmer until the mixture reduces and becomes slightly thicker in consistency. You will know it is ready when you take some out with a spoon and, once it’s cooled, it doesn't run or drip very easily. Once done, take off the heat. 
5. Once your shells are baked, take them out of the oven and allow to cool. Once cooled, spoon your jam mixture into the shells. 
6. Place back into the oven for a further 5 minutes. 
7. Take out of the oven, allow to cool and then enjoy! They’re paired great with a warm cup of herbal tea! 

Notes: 

For the strawberry tarts, I added some hibiscus to the (boiling hot) water beforehand to ensure the colour is a lovely red and to give it a slight tart taste. You can do the same if you wish, or add other colouring/flavourful teas like butterfly pea or lavender.  

If you don’t feel like making jam from scratch, you can always make your shells and add any jam jar of your choice! A cheeky cheat code for a simple treat. 

Enjoy!