These ridiculously easy Strawberry and Clotted Cream Tarts are ready in under an hour and marry together, flaky puff pastry, sweet strawberries and thick clotted cream; the perfect summer dessert!
You have no idea how excited I am for strawberries to be sweet again!
It’s my favourite time of year and I eat my body weight in strawberries every year. So expect to find a lot of strawberry recipes here in the next few weeks as I take full advantage of strawberry season!
Now, today I bring you these Mini Strawberry and Clotted Cream Tarts; ready in under an hour, they are the perfect summer dessert. Light, flaky layers of pastry topped with vanilla sweetened clotted cream and sweet strawberries.
Simple, but perfect. The clotted cream adds an extra something, a richness, you could use double/heavy cream of course, but the clotted cream really makes these tarts in my opinion.
Last week we were away in Paris for the tennis and it was amazing! We went to the men’s quarter and semi finals and the atmosphere is unparalleled by anything else I’ve been to. You honestly see the roller coaster of a match and what a difference the crowd has – they carry the player sometimes. We saw Juan Martin Del Potro twice, Marin Cilic and Rafael Nadal. I have to admit, I am someone who finds Rafa irritating to watch on TV as it takes him so long to serve, but live it’s completely different and I was in awe of how amazing he is.
The speed with which he can play the ball. Insane. Blink and you miss it.
Whilst we were in Paris we legitimately walked 20 miles. We were both knackered and joking we were going back to work for a rest. It wasn’t too bad to get to the stadium from our hotel, but I find city atmospheres very overwhelming, especially packed commuter trains so that bit wasn’t fun. We had to take 2 trains and then walk the last bit, even still we walked miles!
I also went into Sephora for the first time in my life because we don’t get it here (thank goodness for my bank balance). I went crazy. Like kid in a candy store crazy. This trip was kind of our honeymoon, so my husband basically gave me unlimited money to spend on makeup and skincare.
I have serious issues. I’m ashamed of how much I spent hahahaha! I am now the proud owner of a Tom Ford lipstick among many, many other things.
Now, let’s talk more about these mini tarts and how much I love strawberries. For me, strawberries and cream are synonymous with Wimbledon, but I also think strawberries = summer which = tennis. Tennis is the one reason I love Summer, because my butt is allergic to grass, the sun… so I lock myself away inside a dark room when it’s 30C+ outside.
Yes, I am that person who burns with factor 50 on… although somehow I avoided burning in a blisteringly hot Paris.
For this recipe, you need minimal ingredients. It would be the perfect last minute dessert if you suddenly remembered you had family coming over and you hadn’t made anything.
You simply cut a sheet of ready made puff pastry into 6-8 rounds, prick them with a fork, bake them in the oven for 12 minutes, leave them to cool and top them with clotted cream and strawberries.
They look spectacular, taste spectacular, but are very easy to make! The best kinds of desserts in my opinion!
Mini Strawberry and Clotted Cream Tarts
Ingredients
- 13.5 oz (375g) sheet of ready rolled puff pastry
- 1 cup (150g) fresh strawberries, sliced
- 1 tbsp caster/white sugar
- 6 tsp (roughly 1/2 cup/105g) clotted cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F and line a baking tray with grease proof paper/a Silpat/silicone sheet. Place the sheet of puff pastry onto it.
- Using a 10cm round cutter, cut 6 rounds of pastry out of the sheet of puff. If you want to re roll the remainder and cut a further two rounds, you can do this as well. I got 6 rounds, but if you re roll and go again, you'd get 8.
- Prick the centre of each pastry round all the way through with a fork, leaving a 1/2 inch gap around the edge of the round.
- Place in the oven for 12-14 minutes, until risen and golden. Leave to cool on the baking tray completely, around 30 minutes.
- Place the sliced strawberries and 2tbsp sugar into a small bowl and stir to coat the strawberries. Leave to one side.
- Spoon 1 heaping tsp of clotted cream into the centre of each pastry round and smooth into an even layer with the back of a spoon.
- By this stage, your strawberries should be glossy and have a kind of sauce. Spoon 1tbsp of strawberries onto the centre of the clotted cream on each tart.
- Either serve immediately, or cover loosely with cling film and place in the fridge for up to 1 hour. You can also make the toppings, and the tarts, then refrigerate them individually for a day before assembling the tarts. Cover the bowls of strawberries and clotted cream with cling film and place the tarts into an airtight container to store in the fridge.
- Strawberry and Clotted Cream Tarts will keep covered in the fridge for 1 day. The strawberries will leak into the clotted cream which is why I advise serving within an hour if you've assembled the tarts completely. However, they are completely edible if you keep them in the fridge for a day, just not as pretty!!
