A beautiful open-topped pie is the perfect way to make the most of the season’s finest ingredients and a lighter option for summer
RECIPES SARAH AKHURST
Get ahead
The pastry can be made ahead and frozen. The tart can be baked the day before, chilled and then brought back to room temperature to serve.
Get ahead
Prep to the end of step 3 afew hours ahead; store the filling in the fridge. Assemble and bake for 8-10 minutes.
SERVES 8-10 V (pastry only)
HANDS-ON TIME 20 mins TOTAL TIME 1 hr, plus chilling and cooling
SUMMER PUDDING PIE
A warm-weather dessert that delivers all the fruity f lavour of the classic British summer pud, but with the added delight of crisp, buttery pastry. It’s the perfect alfresco pud served with some booze-laden cream on the side.
◆ 200g plain flour
◆ 125g cold unsalted butter, cubed
◆ 50g icing sugar, plus extra to dust
◆ zest of 1½ lemons (reserve the other half for the filling)
◆ 1 medium egg yolk, plus 1 extra egg, beaten, to glaze
◆ 2 tbsp demerara sugar
For the filling
◆ 600g mixed summer fruits (we used strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and pitted cherries)
◆ zest of ½ lemon
◆ 1½ tbsp cornflour
◆ 1 tbsp caster sugar
◆ 2 tbsp strawberry jam
To serve
◆ 200ml double cream
◆ 1 tbsp icing sugar
◆ 1 tbsp Chambord, or other berry liqueur
1 For the pastry, put the flour and butter in a food processor and blitz until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the icing sugar and lemon zest and blitz to combine, before adding the egg yolk and 2 tablespoons of cold water. Blitz until the mixture comes together. Press together into a disc, wrap and chill for around an hour.
2 For the filling, halve any larger strawberries, then gently mix all of the fruit together with the lemon zest, cornflour and caster sugar in a bowl.
3 Preheat the oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5 and line a baking sheet with baking paper or a reusable liner. Remove the pastry from the fridge and dust your worksurface with a little extra icing sugar. Roll the pastry out to a large circle, about 35cm in diameter. Transfer to the baking sheet then spread the base with the strawberry jam, leaving a 5cm border around the edge. Cover the base with the fruit, keeping within the border.
Carefully fold the edges up and over the fruit, overlapping and pinching the pastry into pleats as you fold it. Brush the beaten egg all over the exposed pastry and sprinkle the pastry edges with the demerara sugar. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the filling jammy.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before serving.
