Last updated 19:42, Thursday, 03 July 2008

IF YOU’RE planning a summer party this stunning tart would be a great centre piece for any dessert table.

At the height of summer, we should take advantage of all those beautiful summer fruits and this recipe uses them to their full advantage. Even if the weather is not so good outside, it will still be a delight.

For the filling we are suggesting pastry cream (or crème patissiere – confectioner’s custard – to give it its formal title) which is a luxurious dreamy custard which can be served with many things.

In this recipe we are leaving it au naturel with a vanilla flavouring, but if you wanted to use it in another recipe you could flavour it with coffee or chocolate.

This is a real old school classic, based on a Roux recipe so it is a bit of a French fancy!

Here’s our summer berry tart with lemon pastry

You will need a selection of summer fruits such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and redcurrants.

For the pastry

250g plain flour

100g butter

Zest of one lemon

100g icing sugar (sieved)

Pinch of salt

2 eggs (beaten)

Beaten egg for repairs (optional, see below)

Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the centre.

Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the flour.

Work the butter through the flour to combine them together. Blend lightly with your finger tips until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Add the lemon zest and icing sugar and mix to incorporate into the flour and butter mixture.

Add the beaten eggs and draw the mixture together into dough. Lightly knead it to ensure it is fully combined.

Wrap it in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

Once chilled, roll it out on a lightly floured work surface until it is about 3mm thick.

Grease and line a large loose bottomed flan case and line it with the pastry. Allow an overhang of pastry in case it shrinks slightly. Also, reserve some pastry in case you have to repair any cracks.

Chill the pastry again for a good 20 minutes.

After chilling, line the pastry with greaseproof paper and fill it with baking beans.

Cook it in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.

Remove the paper and beans carefully. Check the pastry case for any cracks. If there are any, you can use the reserved pastry to repair them. Just fill them in with a little piece, it should mould into place easily with the hot pastry.

If you have had to make any repairs, you might want to brush the case with beaten egg. This fixes everything into place by ‘gluing’ the old to the new.

Return the case to the oven for a further ten minutes or so until cooked. Then leave to cool.

Whilst it’s cooling you could make your crème patissiere.

6 egg yolks

125g caster sugar

40g plain flour

500ml milk

1 vanilla pod, split in half and seeds scraped out (an interesting point here is that it is actually the seeds we are using, we do not need the pod itself. However, you can keep it and add it to a jar of sugar. It will impart a vanilla flavour to the sugar that you can use in other dishes.)

Put the egg yolks and around one third of the sugar in a bowl and whisk until they become pale in colour and form a ribbon-y trail from the whisk if you were to lift it out of the mixture.

Combine the milk, remaining sugar and the vanilla seeds in a saucepan and bring to the boil.

As soon as the milk starts to bubble, pour one third onto the egg mixture, stirring constantly.

Pour the mixture back into the pan and stir to combine.

Cook over a very gentle heat stirring all the time for around five minutes until it thickens.

Put the custard into a bowl. Sprinkle a little icing sugar over it to prevent it forming a skin and allow it to cool down.

To serve, simply fill the pastry case with the crème patissiere and top with a mixture of berries. If you wish, you could also glaze the berries with a little warmed redcurrant jelly using a pastry brush.

Ooo la la !