PEACH TARTS

Food is the good choice to cure exam fever.  Nutritious food such as tonic soup and dessert to alleviate the stress and jittery of exam fever.

Starts off with favourite sweet pastry fruit tarts - baked peach tarts.

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
2 cups plain (all purpose) flour
150gm cold butter
3 tablespoons castor (super fine) or icing sugar
2-3 tablespoons ice water

Mix flour and sugar together
Add chopped butter and mix, until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs
Add enough ice water to form a smooth dough
Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 mins
Pinch a small dough into tart tin and press to fill tin
Prick lightly with fork, place on a baking tray and chill for at leat 30 mins

Pre-heat oven to moderate 180C
Bake pastry for 10 mins
Remove from oven and brush the bases lightly with egg whites to seal
Cool and then spread each case evenly with jam

Filling
90gm butter
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
60gm ground almonds
125gm castor sugar
3 tablespoons self-raising flour
2 tablespoons fresh milk
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1 tin sliced peach in syrup

Cream butter, sugar and lemon rind till light and creamy
Beat in the eggs a little at a time
Using a metal spoon fold in the flour and ground almond, then the milk last
Place a slice of peach into each pastry shell
Spoon filling into the pastries and smooth the surface
Sprinkle some ground almond evenly over the top of each tart

Bake for 20 mins or until set and golden brown

Serve hot or cold.

As there is still left-over custard from the previous berries pastries, I used the custard for fresh peach tarts.  Fill the case with custard and top with peaches.  Boil 5 tablespoons of syrup in sauce pan and add in 2 gelatine leaves till dissolve.  Cool and spread over the peaches. Refrigerate till serve.