Easy-peasy strawberry, almond and meadowsweet tart
Serves 8-12
1hr 15 min
About the recipe
Glorious, vibrant strawberries are in abundance in Ireland at this time of the year. And as luck would have it, a delightful flavour companion for them is in full bloom in the hedgerows around the country - Meadowsweet. Meadowsweet has a gentle sweet almond/vanilla flavour, and makes a gorgeous free-to-forage substitute for vanilla. Meadowsweet has a fairly short window of availability, but fear not. You can dehydrate the flowers, blitz and store in an airtight container to preserve the flavour for use later in the year. In this easy-peasy tart, a chewy but crisp-edged almond base envelopes a pillowy layer of strained, lemon-spiked yoghurt. It’s all topped with a generous helping of strawberries. Light, not too sweet, and a perfect celebration of strawberry season!
Make sure to forage carefully, take only a little and be sure to double check that you have correctly identified the plant you are foraging.
For the strained yoghurt 500g Full fat yoghurt (Mossfield organic yoghurt is particularly delicious) Zest of 1 organic lemon 1tsp dried meadowsweet or vanilla powder
For the almond shortbread Zest of 1 organic lemon Flaky sea salt pinch Maple syrup 85g Ground almonds 300g
To garnish 500g fresh Irish strawberries A sprig of meadowsweet flowers
To strain the yoghurt
Line a sieve with a muslin cloth and rest it over a bowl.
Add 500g yoghurt to the lined sieve and cover loosely with a clean cloth.
Place in the fridge for 1hr to allow to strain.
You can keep the whey refrigerated and add it to your bread next time you’re baking. It’s important to use full fat yoghurt for this. Low fat yoghurts often have gums or starches added to improve their texture and palatability. This means they won’t strain well.
To make the shortbread
Preheat the oven to 160C
Zest an organic lemon into a mixing bowl Zest only the yellow part of the lemon, the white part is bitter so we don’t want to add any of this.
Add the pinch of flaky sea salt to the lemon zest and rub together with the tips of your fingers. You should feel the lemon zest starting to release its oils and the aroma of lemon should begin to reach your nose.
Add 300g almonds and 85g maple syrup to the bowl
Mix well into a dough
Line an 8inch round sandwich tin with parchment paper
Press the dough into the tin and up the sides
Bake for 15 minutes until the edges are golden
Allow to cool fully
Preparing the strawberries
Wash the strawberries.
Slice them in halves and quarters into a bowl and mix with 1tbsp sugar, allow it to mingle for a few minutes.
Assembly
Once the shortbread has cooled fully, run a knife between the tin and the sides of the shortbread to releasee and sticky bits. Transfer the tart base to your serving plate.
Decant the strained yoghurt from the sieve into a bowl and mix with 1tsp of vanilla powder or dried meadowsweet.
Spoon the strained yoghurt into the tart. Garnish liberally with strawberries. Add a few meadowsweet flowers on top to garnish
