Pastry jammy cakey things

I’m sure I’ve talked about this before, but when Mr Wiggo was little, his mum used to make these things called ‘pastry jammy cakey things’ - literally just what they sound like: jam tarts with a sponge topping. I’ve made them tons of times over the years, including a Christmassy clementine and cinnamon mince pie version, but the original is still his favourite, especially with orange in the pastry. You can make them with any jam you like, and flavour the sponge with anything: vanilla, more orange… you can even substitute a tablespoon or two of the flour with cocoa and make chocolate ones (which are fab with a marmalade centre).

Pastry jammy cakey things

For the pastry, you’ll need:

200g cold butter
400g plain flour
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 egg
1 orange, zest and juice (I use half in the pastry and half in the sponge)

Plus:

1 jar of jam

For the cakey topping, you’ll need:

115g butter
115g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
The other half of the orange zest and juice (or 1tsp vanilla extract)
115g self raising flour

So firstly, make the pastry by combining the butter and flour together (either rub it in by hand or just use the mixer), then add in the caster sugar.

When the mixture looks breadcrumby, quickly mix the egg, half the orange zest and half the juice together with a fork and add to the egg mixture, bringing together into a dough. Split into two (the pastry is enough for two batches), wrap in clingfilm and allow to chill for 10 – 15 minutes in the fridge.

Make up the sponge mix by creaming together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then adding the eggs (again, I find it easiest to mix them with the orange juice and zest) a little at a time, and finally the flour. If the mixture curdles while you’re adding the eggs, just use a tablespoon of the flour to bring it back.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees/gas 5

Now, it’s assembly time. I know this is picky, but if you can possibly cut everything out from your first rolling, you’ll get a much better pastry finish. If you keep squishing the dough together and rolling it out again, you’ll get tougher pastry and risk shrinkage too. If you’re a mum and you’ve ever made pastry with the kids at school, when it ends up all grey and cardboardy, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

So firstly roll out the pastry on a well floured work surface – the thinner the better – then cut out discs with a pastry cutter and press into the paper cases (you don’t need to use them, but with short pastry, they can sometimes be difficult to lever out of the tin, plus it’s just how pastry cakey jammy things are made, okay?).

Then add about a teaspoon of jam to each pie, and finally top with a dollop of cake mixture.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes until they’re well risen and golden.

(Notice the position of the sugar jar here - the lid fell back and broke an egg. Duh.)

Of course if you just want to make normal jam tarts, leave off the sponge topping, or you can use the other half of the pastry to make lids or stars or whatever. Plus obviously you can substitute the jam for lemon curd, or mincemeat, or fruit compote. Let me know if you give them a go!