Strawberry & Saffron Tarts

Name: Strawberry & Saffron Tarts
Cuisine: Northern Europe
Ingredients: 1 x quantity sweet saffron short crust pastry; 300 ml / ½ pt / 1 ¼ cups double cream; 5 egg yolks; 50 g / 2 oz / ¼ cup golden caster sugar; 1 tsp arrowroot or cornflour mixed with 2-4 tsp sweet white wine or water; 1 tsp arrowroot or cornflour mixed with 2-4 tsp sweet white wine or water; 1 tsp arrowroot or cornflour mixed with 2-4 tsp sweet white wine or water; 1 tsp arrowroot or cornflour mixed with 2-4 tsp sweet white wine or water; 1 ½ tbsp golden caster sugar ½ tsp powder douce or ¼ tsp each cinnamon & ginger plus a pinch of cloves; 1 ½ tbsp golden caster sugar ½ tsp powder douce or ¼ tsp each cinnamon & ginger plus a pinch of cloves; 1 ½ tbsp golden caster sugar ½ tsp powder douce or ¼ tsp each cinnamon & ginger plus a pinch of cloves; 1 ½ tbsp golden caster sugar ½ tsp powder douce or ¼ tsp each cinnamon & ginger plus a pinch of cloves; 1 pinch / 20-30 saffron strands, crushed; 130 ml / 3 ½ fl oz / just over half a cup sweet white wine; 250 g / 9 oz / 1 ¾ cups strawberries hulled; 30-35 g / just over 1 oz dates, finely chopped (2-6 dates depending on size and variety used); 12 extra saffron strands (optional)

Preparation info

Makes
12
small tarts or one 23 cm 9 in tart

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Fool's Gold

By Sam Bilton

Published 2022

About

Saffron-coloured custard was a popular filling for medieval tarts, as can be seen from this recipe adapted from Two Fifteenth Century Cookery Books (Harl MS 279. Here it is paired with a spiced strawberry layer. These deep filled tartlets were known as ‘daryoles’ but you can make one large tart if you prefer.

Ingredients

Europe
United Kingdom
Dessert
Pie
Vegetarian

Ingredients

Method