Sunshine Strawberry Tarts

It's strawberry season; that time at the end of june and start of july defined by local berries. Strawberries as sweet and fresh as the ones we plucked right off the plants when we were kids. These aren't anything like the flavourless mutants we can pick up year round, these are special, the product of summertime and sunshine.

This recipe is simple enough I managed to whip in up in no time before I left the house for work today, which is kind of amazing. The orange zest and almond bring out the flavour of the berry wonderfully.

Pastry Crust

2/3 cup fresh butter
2 tbsps granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsps pure almond extract
4-5 tbsps ice water
1 1/4 cup flour
pinch of salt

Tart Filling

1 Pint of local berries, hulled
2 tbsps granulated sugar
1/2 an organic orange worth of zest

Whisk the dry ingredients together. Cut in the cold butter with a pastry cutter until you have a meal with pieces that range in size from that of small peas to fine bits, all coated in flour. Add the almond and water, don't add the last tbsp unless you need it. Knead the crust until it forms a ball, being careful not to melt the butter and/or overwork the dough. Wrap and set aside in the fridge.

If you haven't already, hull the berries and cut any larger ones in half. (Try to leave the small ones whole, your tart will have a more luscious texture. It's nice to bite into a juicy berry.) Combine the berries, sugar and zest.

Roll out the dough, put your tart pans on top of the dough and cut around them to get an idea of how much you need. Press in and divide berries amongst them. Bake at 400f until golden on the edges.

Oh, and next time I make this I'm going to try adding ground almonds to the crust, I bet that would be wicked.

Enjoy!