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Congress Tarts
Congress Tarts is a traditional English recipe (originating in Cornwall) for classic little tartlets of shortcrust pastry bases, covered with jam and topped with a ground almond sponge that are decorated with almonds and a pastry cross. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic English version of: Congress Tarts.
prep time
20 minutes
cook time
20 minutes
Total Time:
40 minutes
Makes:
12
Rating: 
Tags : Vegetarian RecipesBaking RecipesCake RecipesBritish RecipesEnglish RecipesCornish Recipes
These are the Cornish equivalent of Welsh Cheese tarts. Pastry shells filled with jam and topped with sponge all finished with a cross of pastry. The main difference is the inclusion of ground almonds into the Cornish sponge mixture. As ground almonds were expensive, it was typical to reduce the amount by half, or to substitute the ground almonds with ground rice.
Ingredients:
For the Pastry:
225g (8 oz) plain flour
generous pinch of salt
1 tbsp icing sugar
115ml (4 oz) chilled butter, diced
1 large egg whisked with 1 tbsp chilled water
For the Sponge:
85g (3 oz) ground almonds
85g (3 oz) self-raising flour
85g (3 oz) caster sugar
85g (3 oz) very soft, almost melted, butter
almond essence
2 small eggs, beaten
flaked almonds to garnish (optional)
Method:
Pre-heat your oven to 200C (180C fan/400F).
In a food processor, combine the flour, salt and icing sugar. Blend for a few seconds to blend then add the butter and pulse for a few more seconds.
Add the egg and water mix then pulse until everything comes together as a ball.
Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead lightly until smooth. Roll into a ball, cover with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and chill in the refrigerator for an hour. After this time, remove from the refrigerator, allow to warm up slightly for 10 minutes. Quarter and using one piece at a time roll out to about 2mm thick and use to line the wells of your patty pan.
Continue to do this with each piece then re-roll the scraps and cut out more pastry rounds until the wells are all covered. Roll out the leftovers and roll out again then cut into thin strips for the crosses (easiest done with a ruler and a knife).
Cover the bottom of the tarts with jam (strawberry, raspberry or blackcurrant typically; though I am partial to lemon curd).
Now prepare the sponge mixture. Combine the ground almonds, self-raising flour, caster sugar, butter and almond essence in a bowl. Work in the beaten eggs to form a batter. Spoon this into the pastry cases. If desired sprinkle a few flaked almonds over the top then decorate with the pastry crosses.
Transfer to your pre-heated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool before serving.
