Strawberry and basil tart

Preparing the basil cream – 15 minutes

Remove the basil leaves from their stems and finely chop the white chocolate. Finely grate the zest of one lemon and squeeze out the juice.

Put the gelatine leaves in cold water to soften them. Heat the basil stalks with half the cream in a small saucepan, over a low heat, for 5 minutes.

Pass the infused cream through a sieve and remove the basil stalks. Squeeze the water from the gelatine leaves and dissolve them in the hot basil cream mixture.

Melt the chopped white chocolate in the hot cream. Add the lemon juice and half of the lemon zest, then set the basil cream aside to cool.

Meanwhile, whip the other half of the cream. Finely chop the basil leaves and mix through the white chocolate mixture, along with the whipped cream.

Let the basil cream cool completely.

Baking the strawberry and basil tart – 45 minutes

Dice the butter, then combine the flour, butter, icing sugar and the remaining half of the lemon zest in a large bowl. The texture of the pastry will feel gritty.

Add an egg and 1 egg yolk, and mix together until a ball of pastry forms. Wrap tightly in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

Use a silicone brush to grease a large, round tart dish with butter. Roll out the pastry thinly, using a little flour to prevent it from sticking.

Lay the dough over the tart dish and use a rolling pin to trim off the excess pastry. Prick a few holes in the pastry base with a fork.

Cover the top of the pastry with baking parchment which fits the dish exactly and fill with baking beans. Bake the tart base in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.

Remove the tart base from the oven, remove the blind baking beans and baking parchment, then bake the tart base for another 5 minutes to give it a golden brown colour.

Leave the tart base to cool completely.

Finishing the strawberry and basil tart – 5 minutes

Spread the basil cream over the tart base. Wash, and thinly slice the fresh strawberries and lay them over the tart filling.

Dust the strawberry and basil tart with icing sugar, and garnish with fresh basil leaves. Enjoy!