Lemon Curd and Strawberry Rolls

Makes 12

For the Dough

400 g bread flour

50 g room temperature butter

1 medium egg

1 tsp salt

7 g active dry yeast

25 g caster sugar

180 ml lukewarm milk

Egg wash

1 egg yolk

15 ml milk

Lemon Curd (makes extra)

100 g sugar

3 eggs

85 g room temperature butter

125 ml lemon juice zest of 2 lemons pinch of salt

Lemon Curd and Strawberry filling

100 g fresh strawberries

200 g lemon curd

Method

Preparation of the dough

1. In a small bowl mix the sugar and yeast in the lukewarm milk and let the yeast activate for about 15 minutes until foamy.

2. To a mixer with a dough hook, add all the dough ingredients. Mix on a low speed for about 5 minutes, then increase the speed to medium and mix for a further 12 minutes until the dough comes away from the bowl. If you are kneading by hand, knead until you get a soft and smooth dough, which should be after approximately 25 minutes of kneading. Form the dough into a ball and let it rest in a warm place covered for an hour until it doubles in size.

Lemon Curd

1. In a glass or heatproof bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar and salt. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Add the butter and continuously stir until all the butter is melted. Keep whisking the mixture over the heat for around 10 minutes. Add the lemon juice and zest. Whisk for about 5 minutes more until it thickens.

2. Pour the curd into a glass jar and set aside in the fridge until ready to use.

Assembly And Baking

1. Lightly butter a 33 x 23cm baking dish and set aside. On a floured work surface, roll the dough into a rectangle, roughly 40 x 30cm.

2. With a spatula spread a layer of lemon curd over the dough. Leave about 2cm at the border so that the curd doesn’t ooze out whilst rolling. Place the strawberries over the curd sparingly.

3. Roll the dough tightly. Cut the dough with a serrated knife into 12 rolls. They should be about 2.5cm thick each. Place the rolls in the baking dish, cover and let them rest for half an hour. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C.

4. Brush the rolls with the egg wash and bake them for about 20 minutes, until golden. Dust with icing sugar and enjoy!

Mini Fruit Tarts

Ingredients

Tart Base

340 g plain flour 2 1/2 cups

2 egg yolks

65 g icing sugar 2/3 cup

170 g butter 3/4 cup

1/2 tsp salt zest of one lemon

Vanilla Pastry Cream

250 ml full fat milk 1 cup

15 g cornstarch

25 g sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

1/4 tsp salt

Toppings

40 g milk/dark chocolate melted strawberries/ raspberries/ blackberries/ blueberries as desired

Fruit Glaze

7 g gelatine powder

250 ml warm water

12 g sugar 1 tbsp

Method

Preparing the Tart Base

1. Start by preparing the tart base dough. In a large bowl mix the flour and salt. Add the cubed butter and mix to a crumbly mixture. Work with your fingertips so that you don’t melt the butter.

2. Add the icing sugar and the lemon peel and combine well.

3. Form a well with the ingredients, put the egg yolks in the middle and start mixing. Knead the dough briefly until all the ingredients are incorporated and a smooth dough is formed.

4. Wrap the dough in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour.

Preparing the Vanilla Pastry Cream

1. In a small saucepan with the heat turned off, combine together all the pastry cream ingredients. Cook your cream filling on medium heat, stirring continuously until it thickens. It is important to not move away from the cream while cooking as once it thickens you have to remove it from the stove immediately or it will burn. Place the cream into a clean bowl and cover with plastic wrap, making sure that the plastic wrap is touching the cream. Leave it to cool down in the fridge for at least an hour.

Making the Tarts

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C or 350°F. Spray the tartlet tins with some baking spray and set aside.

2. Divide the chilled dough into 8 equal portions.

3. Open each piece of dough into a circle, slightly bigger than the tartlet tin, between two sheets of cooking paper. Do not add any additional flour.* Place the dough over the tartlet tin and gentle press it in. Remove any excess dough from the edges by rolling over with the rolling pin. Poke several fork holes at the bottom.

4. Blind bake** the tartlets for about 15-20 minutes at 180°C.

5. Once cooked let them rest for a few minutes.

6. While the tarts are cooling down melt the chocolate. Brush the chocolate over the tart base and let them cool down completely until the chocolate sets.

Assembly

1. Once the chocolate is all set and cooled, fill each tart with the pastry cream. And place them in the fridge for 15 minutes so that the pastry cream sets slightly.

2. In the meantime prepare the fruit you’ll be using to decorate each tart. Decorate each tart with the fruit on top and finally brush the gelatine glaze on top of the fruits so that it keeps everything fresh and gives it a nice shine.

Preparing the glaze for the fruits

1. Add the gelatine, sugar and water together and mix well until they let it bloom.

2. Refrigerate the gelatine glaze for about 15 minutes. However, it’s important that you don’t let is set completely that is solidifies. Therefore, do this step when you are almost ready with the tarts.