Who could say ‘no’ to these sweet home-made strawberry and Nutella pop tarts for breakfast? Plus, you can use any leftover jam for other confectionery treats!

MAKES 15 + 1 jar of strawberry jam // COOKING TIME 1 hour 10 min

INGREDIENTS
For the jam
350 g strawberries, fresh or frozen
300 g sugar
1 lemon, juiced
½ vanilla pod
For the pastry
250 g flour, plus extra to dust
Pinch salt
3 tbsp sugar
125 g butter
1 egg, plus 1 for brushing
To assemble
⅔ cup Nutella
½ cup icing sugar, plus extra to dust

METHOD
For the jam
1. Add the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla pod to a saucepan and let the sugar melt over a low heat. As soon as the sugar has melted, bring the jam to a simmer. Leave to gently simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring every few minutes.
2. If you have a sugar thermometer, the jam is ready when it reaches 104°C. If not, use the ‘wrinkle test’. Before you start cooking the jam, place a heatproof plate in the freezer. About 10 minutes into cooking the jam, test for readiness by dripping a little bit of the jam on to the icecold plate. If the jam sets and wrinkles when you touch it, it’s ready. If not, simmer for another 3 minutes and then try again.
3. When the jam is cooked, spoon into a sterilised jar and refrigerate.
For the pastry
1. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until it forms a ball.
2. If you don’t have a food processor, sift the flour, salt and sugar together. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs and then add the egg. If the dough is a little hard, add a drop of ice-cold water. Don’t handle the dough more than necessary, as this will make the final product too chewy.
3. Leave the dough to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes.
To assemble
1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to 5 mm and cut out thirty 10 cm circles with a cookie cutter. Brush the edges of 15 of the circles with egg wash, 1 cm deep.
3. Add 1 heaped tsp Nutella and 1 heaped tsp strawberry jam to the centre of the 15 pastry circles. Top each filled circle with another circle and press the edges together with a fork. Bake the pop tarts for 20 minutes.
4. To make a strawberry jam drizzle, mix the icing sugar with 2 tbsp strawberry jam until it becomes a runny consistency. Dust the pop tarts with icing sugar, pour the drizzle over and serve.

Recipe & styling: Caro Alberts
Photography: Andreas Eiselen/HMimages.co.za

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