Mini Fruit Tarts

These gorgeous little puff pastry tarts can be made with any berries and are just right for a garden party or barbeque.

• Start with the creme patissiere filling, put the milk and seeds scraped from the vanilla pod into a heavy based saucepan and bring to the boil. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl or large jug whisk together the sugar, egg yolks and cornflour to a smooth paste.
• When the milk is boiling, pour into the egg mixture whilst whisking. Continue to whisk as you return it all to the pan. Keep whisking on a low/medium heat until it returns to the boil and thickens. Boil for 3 minutes.
• Pour the creme patissiere into a bowl and press a sheet of cling film down onto the surface, to prevent a skin from forming, and cool in the fridge.
• Heat oven to 210C/190C fan. Lay the pastry flat on the work surface, still on its baking paper and roll to the thickness of a pound coin. Use a 7.5cm pastry cutter to cut pastry disks then use a smaller cutter and gently press to score a smaller circle inside. Take care not to cut all the way through.
• Put each disk into a 12-hole bun tin then paint on a little milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 15 minutes until golden and puffed up. Leave to cool then gently press down the centre of each tart to leave a puffed rim around the edge.
• When everything is cool, spoon or pipe the creme patissiere into the pastry cases and top with your choice of berries.

Note: If using less sweet berries such as blackcurrants or gooseberries you can choose to make them into a quick compote. Heat the berries in a pan with a few spoons of sugar and a dash of water. Taste and add more sugar to suit your taste and tartness of the berries.