Tart of red berries and whipped cream (V)

A nice fresh summery dessert. I wanted to do it with rhubarb rather than summer berries as it's still only March, but I couldn't find any forced rhubarb in the shops here.

Makes 12

For the tart cases

50g butter

50g caster sugar

1 egg

125g plain flour

50g ground almonds

For the berries

About 400g berries (strawberries, red currants, raspberries, blueberries, etc.)

2 tbsps sugar

1 tbsp creme de cassis

50ml water

For the cream

500ml whipping cream

200g mascapone

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Beat the butter and sugar together until pale. This may take some minutes, especially if the butter is cold. Beat the egg in gradually and stir in the flour and almonds. Knead gently to form a dough.

Divide into 12 equal pieces, pat into flat circles and use to line a 12-hole muffin tin, pressing the dough right up to the edges. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown. Let them cool and prise them gently out of the tin.

Keep back 100g of berries for a garnish and put the rest into a small pan with the sugar, creme de cassis and water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for about half an hour, until reduced and syrupy, crushing the berries into the liquid with a wooden spoon. Pass through a sieve and allow to cool.

Whip the cream and mascapone together until stiff and spoon into the biscuit cases. Top with the reserved berries and drizzle over a generous amount of berry syrup. Serve immediately.

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Photograph by Kelsie Mortimer