A straight-sided mini cake tin from Lakeland inspired the creation of this recipe for mini cheese and bacon tarts that are just perfect for parties, picnics, and lunch-boxes. Lakeland calls it a 12 Cup Mini Sandwich Tin – but it’s perfect for a lot of different kind of recipes. You could make these in a large muffin tin, but the straight sides and loose bottoms of the Lakeland tin, make it a very useful and versatile addition to your baking cupboard.
Once you’ve tried this recipe look up the Individual Lemon Cheesecakes, and of course the incredibly tempting strawberry cheesecake
What you need
Ingredients for 12 individual cheese and bacon tarts
Pastry:
- 130g plain flour
- Pinch salt
- 65g fat (Cookeen is perfect)
- Iced water
Filling
- 3 rashers bacon
- I medium onion
- 100g grated cheddar cheese
- 2 eggs
- 150 ml double cream
- 150 ml milk
- Salt and pepper
Equipment
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Muffin tray or, better, 12 Cup Mini Sandwich Tin from Lakeland (left). The loose bottoms make all the difference. You need high and preferably straight sides! Plus 15-20cm pastry cutters and a rolling pin.
Oven at 200C
Step 1 – make the pastry
Process the flour, salt and fat into fine crumbs. Refrigerate for 30 mins. Add iced water until dough comes together. This dough is good and elastic. Roll very thin on floured surface. Cut 20cm circles – or 15 cm circles rolled again to thin out. These tarts love being made with very thin pastry and this recipe is perfect for that. If you make the pastry with butter, it will be hard to roll as thin as you need. If you’re new to making pastry, follow the steps in our perfect jam tart article.
Step 2 – the bacon and cheese
Meanwhile, small dice the onion and the bacon. Medium fry the onion in a little light olive oil. When soft, add the bacon and cook down slowly for 10 minutes or so. Cool a little. Grate the cheese.
Beat your eggs in a jug and mix in the cream and milk. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Step 3 – building the tarts
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Line the individual tins with the pastry. If using the Lakeland tin, no need to grease first. The sides will overlap some and be uneven around the top edges, but this adds to their appearance.
Evenly distribute the cheese into the pastry cases followed by the slightly cooled bacon and onion mixture. Pour in the egg and cream mixture. The liquid should fill 2/3 to 3/4 depth of the tarts.
Step four – bake that tarts
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Bake for 15-20 minutes. Take out, cool for 5 mins then remove from the tins to carry on cooling. They’ll be golden on top. Best eaten warm or room temperature.
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