Fruit tarts are the ultimate homemade delight , bound to impress guests or just make a nice change from cake or biscuits at tea time. British classics typically feature sweet jams atop a shortcrust pastry base, but Mary Berry 's Portuguese twist on the recipe is a game-changer. The baking extraordinaire opts for juicy apricots instead, resulting in a delicious version of the Portuguese delicacy, pastel de nata.
As featured on her BBC Two programme 'Mary Makes It Easy', Mary introduced what she described as "a firm favourite around the world", and shocked viewers with how easy the tarts are to make. For an authentic touch, puff pastry is key, and you can easily pick it up from most grocery stores like Sainsbury's at a bargain price of just 99p. Mary’s apricot tarts recipe Butter, for greasing Plain flour, for dusting 320g ready-rolled puff pastry Half a 400g tin apricot, drained and sliced 15g/1⁄2oz demerara sugar Three tbsp apricot jam, melted, to glaze For the custard 250ml/9fl oz milk 100ml/31⁄2fl oz double cream One tsp vanilla extract One large free-range egg, plus 2 egg yolks 115g/4oz caster sugar Four tsp cornflour Source a 12-hole deep muffin tin and prepare it by greasing each section with butter.
Find a 10cm/4in round cutter ready for cutting the pastry out. Next, whip up the custard by first adding the milk, cream and vanilla to a saucepan. Place over medium heat and stir gently until hot.
Crack the whole egg into a heatproof bowl, add the two extra egg yolks,.
