Summer Berry Tart

What’s better than showcasing fresh seasonal berries for dessert? Here a creme patissiere filling sits on top of a shortbread crust and you can pile with fresh berries on top. The crust is easy and can be pre-baked the day before and kept in an airtight container. The creme pâtissiere can be made up to three days ahead - just give it a quick whip before spreading over the tart base and topping with your berry selection.

Tart base

1 cup plain flour

113 grams salted butter

1/4 cup icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence

To make, melt the salted butter and pour over the flour and sugar and mix well. This is a no rest, no refrigerate and no blind bake tart base. Press it in to a 20cm tart tin with a removable base, pressing evenly and up the sides and bake immediately at 175C degrees for approx. 20 minutes until golden brown.

Creme Patissiere

3 egg yolks

30g cornflour

1/3 cup caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence (or fresh vanilla bean pod) 2 cups full cream milk

In a bowl mix egg yolks, cornflour, caster sugar and vanilla. In a saucepan heat the milk to almost boiling and then pour it in to the egg mix whisking quickly. Pour all ingredients back in to the saucepan and whisk over heat until it starts to boil and thickens up. Remove from heat and place in a bowl covering with cling wrap pressed to touch the mix so no skin can form as it cools. Refrigerate until needed

Whip up just prior to filling tart and top with berries as desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve.