A scrumptious dessert and the perfect showstopper for a summer garden party!
To make a dairy-free version, substitute with vegan butter and your favourite plant milk.

Ingredients:
For the pastry:
125g unsalted butter
200g plain flour
85g icing sugar
1 egg
500g strawberries
100g strawberry jam
1 tbsp apricot jam

For the crème patissiere:
480ml milk
75g sugar
A pinch of salt
30g cornflour
3 tsp vanilla bean paste
6 large egg yolks
45g softened unsalted butter

Method:
1. To make the pastry, beat the butter and sugar together until smooth. Mix in the egg, then add the flour.

2. Use a round bladed knife or your fingers to bring it all together to form a dough. Cover the bowl and chill in the fridge for half an hour.

3. Grease a 23cm fluted flan tin then roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 26cm circle. Line the tin with the pastry, leaving an over-hang. Prick the base with a fork and chill again for half an hour.

4. Heat the oven to 200°C (fan 180°C/gas mark 6). Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper and add baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes, remove the paper and beans then cook for a further 20 minutes until golden. Leave to cool.

5. To make the crème patissiere, heat the milk over a medium heat and bring to a simmer (almost a boil).

6. While the milk is being heated, place the sugar, eggs, cornflour, salt and vanilla bean paste into a bowl. Whisk until thick and smooth then place the bowl on a towel (to make the next part easier).

7. As soon as the milk starts to bubble, remove from the heat and slowly pour about half of the hot milk in a thin stream into the egg mix, whisking all the time. Then add the egg mix back into the rest of the hot milk in the saucepan.

8. Heat the custard over a medium heat while whisking vigorously until it starts to thicken (1-2 minutes). While whisking, let the custard come to a boil. Lower the heat and cook for a further 1-2 minutes after you see the first bubbles break the surface.

9. Remove from the heat, add the butter and whisk until it’s completely mixed in. Pour the custard into a bowl and immediately cover the surface with cling film, making sure it touches the whole surface. This prevents a skin forming. Allow the custard to cool down to room temperature, then chill in the fridge.

10. To assemble, beat the straw-berry jam then spread over the base of the pastry case. Pipe or spoon the crème patissiere on top of the jam. Arrange the strawberries in slices or whole to make a nice pattern. Add 1 tbsp water to the apricot jam and heat until warm. Whisk lightly, leave to cool then brush over the top of the strawberries. Serve well-chilled.