Makes 24 little heart pies
 

Pastry:
2 cups all purpose flour (280g)
3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tsp sugar

1/3 cup butter (76g)
1/3 cup lard (or white vegetable shortening) (74g)
5 to 6 tablespoons of ice water
 

strawberry jam

(I like Bon Maman)

milk for brushing

demerara sugar for sprinkling

icing sugar to dust
 

First make the pastry.  Mix flour with salt, and cut in butter and lard, until you have pieces of fat in the flour about the size of peas.  Add ice water, one TBS at a time, tossing it in with a fork until pastry comes together. Form in to a ball and cut in two pieces. Form each into a round flat disc.  Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.

At the end of that time, preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Line a large baking tray with aluminium foil and spritz the foil with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.

Working with one disc at a time, roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface using a lightly floured rolling pin to 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut out heart shapes with a 2- inch heart cookie cutter. (Set the trimmings aside for the end.) Place spaced apart on the baking tray.  Place 1/2 tsp of jam or to taste in the centre of each heart.  Roll out the other disc of pastry the same as the first and cut out an equal amount of herat shapes with the same cutter.  Brush the edges of the hearts on the baking tray with some milk and press the other hearts on top to enclose the jam.  Press around the edges with a fork to seal completely.  Brush the tops with some more milk and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife, cut a little x shaped vent in the centre of each.

Gather up all of the scraps and shape into another dish and roll out as for the other pastry, and cut and fill tarts as before, bearing in mind that they will not be as tender as the first ones because of the extra handling. Repeat brushing with milk, sprinkling with sugar, etc.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20  minutes until crisp and golden brown. Remove from the oven and remove to a wire rack to cool.  Let cool completely prior to eating. Dust with a bit of icing sugar to serve.