What You Need
- Pastry board
- Oven pre-heated to Gas Mark 7 (218 degrees Celsius, or 425 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Rolling pin
- Butter and a paper towel (for greasing)
- Plain flour (for dusting)
- Leftover pastry (I had shortcrust)
- Milk and a pastry brush
- 1 jar lemon curd/a jam of your choice
- 8cm cookie cutter
- Tart tin
Generously flour your pastry board and roll out your leftover pastry. Before I rolled my pastry out completely I squished it in my hands because it was really cold. You will need a lot of flour on your board to make sure your pastry doesn't stick!
After you've rolled out your pastry (you don't want it to be too thick), grease your tart tin using a paper towel and some butter. This will stop your tarts or lattices sticking to your tart tin. (This can be a real pain to sort out! There might be tears!) Make sure there is some leftover pastry so that you can make your lattices.
Step Two
Taking your 8cm cutter, cut out the bases for your tarts. I didn't have much pastry left, but was able to get 6 bases out of it. It's all about being clever with your cutting to get the most out of your pastry. I used the fancy side of my cutter (because I wanted to be fancy), but it doesn't matter what kind of cutter edge you use. It's all in the flavour!! Hehe
Step Three and Four
Lay your tart bases in your tart tin. Place them in gently, and don't push down on them too much. The weight of the lemon curd will make them drop a bit anyway.
Fill the middle of your cases with some lemon curd or jam. I used a heaped teaspoon and that was plenty. Whatever you do, DON'T OVERFILL! It has disastrous consequences. Believe me I know...I still can't really talk about it...but believe me, I have learnt from my mistakes!
Anyway...
Push the sides of your tart bases in towards the lemon curd so that the two are gently touching.
Step Five
I'm going to let you in on a secret...
I've never made lattices before. I was a lattice virgin until this day!
With your leftover pastry (from your leftovers. Wow that's complicated! lol) gently break strips off and roll them into sausage shapes. I used my fingers because I found it easier, but you could use the board as extra support. Lay your lattice strips over your tart carefully (see above image). I made 3 lattices and 3 tarts, just because I was nervous!
Step Six
Gently brush the outside of your tarts/lattices with a little bit of milk. Not only will this help seal your tarts, but it will help turn them beautiful and golden and yummy-looking!
Cook your tarts for 15 minutes on Gas Mark 7/218 degrees Celsius/425 degrees Fahrenheit. I cooked mine for 7 minutes on one side, then turned them round for the final 8 to get equal coverage. Use your oven as a guide. Mine is incredibly unreliable!
Once your tarts are cooked, transfer them to a cooling rack and leave them for about 15 minutes to give time for the curd to set!
(As you may have noticed, my lattices look a bit funny - I like to think they look like pastry lizards swimming in lemon curd. This is the beauty of home cooking! Things don't need to be perfect!)
Step Seven
Enjoy your lovely lemon curd lattice! If your lattices have turned out wonderfully at this point, this is for you...
WOOHOO!!
If not, don't agonise over it. Fear not! This just means you need to make even more lattices so that you can practice...
WOOHOO!!
Everyone's a winner!
Happy Baking!
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