Serves 8
Preparation time 15 minutes, plus chilling time
Oven temperature 180 °C
Baking time 25 minutes

• 150ml berry jam
• 50ml (30g) cornflour
• 50ml (45g) sugar
• 5ml lemon juice
• 1 roll ready-made shortcrust pastry
• 100ml fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 1 large egg yolk
• 5ml milk
• castor sugar, for dusting

1 Mix together jam, cornflour, sugar and lemon juice, and set aside.

2 Grease and line a baking sheet, letting the greaseproof paper protrude over the sides of the sheet by at least 2cm.

3 Unroll the pastry and cut in half. Roll out one of the pastry halves on a lightly floured surface to form a rectangle about 0.5cm thick. Place it on the baking sheet.

4 Roll out the other half of the pastry into a rectangle slightly smaller than the first. Cut out flower or other shapes, spacing them evenly apart, then refrigerate for 15 minutes.

5 Spread the berry mixture on top of the pastry in the baking sheet. Arrange the strawberries on top. Cover with the remaining pastry and fold in the edges, pinching lightly to seal.

6 Mix the egg yolk and the milk together and brush over the pastry. Sprinkle with castor sugar and bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until the pastry is cooked. If the pastry starts to brown too quickly, cover it loosely with foil. Leave to cool completely before removing from the baking sheet and slicing into squares.

Text and image: Ideas magazine