Jam Tarts

I made these jam tarts with my niece a couple of weeks ago, we were waiting for the bread to rise and were looking for something else to make and in truth I've had a craving for jam tarts for ages! These were fab and she basically did all the work, I was there as back up! We got out all our children's cookery books and went through them to decide what to make.

Jam Tarts (from My Cookery Book by Caroline Green)
(Makes 12)

100g plain flour
25g butter
25g shortening
pinch salt
cold water
jam

Sieve the salt and flour into a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter and shortening into little cubes and drop them into the flour Mix with a knife.

Rub the flour and fat together with your fingers until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

Sprinkle 2 tbsp of water into the mixture. Stir in quickly with a palette knife. Add more water if necessary. Now, with your hands, form the dough into a ball that leaves the bowl clean. Wrap the pastry in cling film and leave in the fridge for 30 mins; this makes it easier to roll out. Turn the oven on to 190C.

Sprinkle flour on to the work surface and the rolling pin. Gently roll out the pastry to 5mm thick. Cut the pastry into circles with the cutter and put into patty tins.

Put 1 tsp of jam into each tart and bake in the oven for about 15 mins until the pastry is golden.