Little Strawberry Jam and Vanilla Cream Tarts

We've had plenty of strawberries from the allotment this summer but there's been more than a few ugly Bettys amongst them. They taste great but just lack a little in the looks department, hence they get left at the bottom of the bowl. So I set to and made some jam, a good way to preserve and enjoy less than perfect fruit. The recipe in this post is more about the jam than the tarts as I bought some sweet little all butter tartlet cases from M&S ( £2.29 for 18), but you could make them yourself. This jam is quite soft set because it's only boiled for 4 minutes, this helps retain a fresh strawberry flavour and bright colour. Don't forget to use jam sugar (not to be confused with preserving sugar), it has added pectin (the setting agent) which strawberries and other soft fruit lack.
But, even if you use bought good quality jam or conserve and readymade tartlet cases you've still got delicious bite-size tarts you can put together in the time it takes to whip some cream.

Strawberry Jam
Makes 4-5 jars depending on the size
1kg strawberries, hulled
4 tbsp lemon juice (about 1 lemon freshly squeezed)
1kg jam sugar

1 Wash and dry the jars, place on a baking tray and heat in a warm oven for about 10 mins. At the same time place a saucer or small plate in the freezer to chill. Place the strawberries in a large pan (use the biggest pan you have as the jam will bubble up when you boil it) and mash roughly with a potato masher to break them up. Add the lemon juice and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally.

2 Reduce the heat, add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Increase the heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture comes to a rolling boil. Boil for 4 mins then remove from the heat. To test if the jam is ready, place 1/2 tsp jam onto the saucer from the freezer. Leave to cool for about 1 minute then push the jam with your finger. If it has set and wrinkles it's ready. If it's still very runny, bring the jam back to the boil and boil for a further 2 minutes and test again. Stir in a knob of butter and skim off any surface foam (this is still tasty to eat so keep to one side). Pour the jam into the warm jars, cover and label.

To make the tarts
1 pack 18 mini all butter tartlet cases
3 tbsp strawberry jam
150ml pot whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla paste or vanilla extract
A few fresh strawberries, to decorate
Icing sugar, to dust

1 Arrange the tartlet cases on a plate or cake stand and spoon 1/2 tsp jam into each one.

2 Whip the cream with the vanilla paste or extract until just thick enough to form soft peaks. Spoon a teaspoon of whipped cream onto each tart and decorate with a piece of fresh strawberry. Dust with icing sugar and serve within 1 hour of assembling.