Apricot Jam Tart

Method

1. Sift the flour and baking powder onto a marble slab or a cold board — the cold surface stops the butter melting as you work, which is the secret to a crumbly rather than chewy pastry. Make a well in the centre.
2. Cut the cold butter straight from the fridge into small 1 cm cubes. Pile them into the centre of the well with the sugar and the grated lemon zest.
3. Rub the mixture with your fingertips (never your warm palms): pinch and crumble the butter, sugar and flour together until it looks like coarse sand, with no visible pieces of butter. Two minutes maximum. If you feel the dough warming up, stop.
4. Add the lightly beaten egg to the centre of the crumb. Bring it together quickly with one hand and stop the moment it turns smooth. Working it any longer develops the gluten and the pastry becomes elastic and tough.
5. Shape the dough into a block, flatten it to 2 cm thick, wrap it in cling film and rest it in the fridge for at least 1 hour (2 is better). The rest is not optional: without it the pastry shrinks as it bakes.
6. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), conventional oven, or 165°C (330°F) fan oven, middle shelf.
7. Butter and flour a 24 cm shallow tart tin with a loose base. Alternatively, line it with baking paper that you have wetted and wrung out.
8. Divide the dough: two thirds for the base, one third for the strips. Keep the smaller piece covered in the fridge while you work on the base.
9. Roll the larger piece out to 4-5 mm thick between two sheets of baking paper (it won't stick to the rolling pin and it stays cold). Lift it into the tin with the help of the rolling pin, press it gently into the edges, trim the excess with a knife and prick the base all over with a fork — this stops it puffing up as it bakes.
10. Spoon the Minnelea Extra Apricot Jam straight from the jar over the base, levelling it with the back of a spoon. Leave a 1 cm margin at the edge: the jam rises slightly as it bakes and will burn if it sits too close to the rim.
11. Roll the remaining third out to the same thickness and cut 8 strips 1.5 cm wide with a fluted pastry wheel. Lay them in a lattice (4 one way, 4 at 90°) and seal the ends with light pressure.
12. Beat 1 egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of milk and brush the strips and the rim. It gives a warm copper colour in the oven.
13. Bake for 30-35 minutes. It is ready when the strips are golden, the jam is just bubbling on the surface and the base is pale straw (lift an edge with a palette knife to check).
14. Take the tart out and leave it in the tin for 20 minutes, then move it to a wire rack. Serve at room temperature after at least 2 hours: the jam takes up moisture from the pastry and the flavours settle together. Never hot — pastry straight from the oven is still soft.