Thursday marks Women's Day, which means many high teas.

Did you know that high tea is a British tradition of sitting down for an afternoon treat of tea, sandwiches, scones and cake?

Here's an easy recipe to impress when you host your own special high tea.

Fruit tartlets

INGREDIENTS

For crust:

3/4 cup butter, ice-cold, cubed

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

6 tablespoons cream, cold

For lemon curd:

2/3 cup freshly squeezed
lemon juice

2 eggs, plus 4 egg yolks

1 cup white castor sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup unsalted butter

For cheesecake filling:

1 1/2 cups cream, cold

3/4 cup white castor sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

340g whipped cream cheese, room temperature

Chopped fruit and berries for topping

INSTRUCTIONS

Make the tart shells first. Place flour, salt and sugar in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add cold butter to the food processor and pulse into fine crumbs. Add the cold cream one tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the dough starts to come together but stays slightly crumbly. Bring the dough together into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

Preheat oven to 180°. Roll out dough into a thin sheet on a lightly floured work surface. Using a round cookie cutter, cut out circles.

Gently press each disk of dough into a mini cupcake tin to shape the shell. Pierce the bottoms with a fork to prevent bubbling, and bake in preheated oven until golden brown. Allow the shells to cool slightly in the pan before moving to a wire rack to cool.

Prepare the lemon curd. In a medium bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, eggs, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer to remove impurities.

Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens into a custard, about 7 minutes. Add the butter to the hot custard and whisk until butter is completely melted. Cover the lemon curd with plastic wrap so that it touches the surface. Cool in refrigerator.

Next, prepare the cheesecake filling.

Pour cold cream into a mixer bowl and add the sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk on medium speed to soft peaks. Add the whipped cream cheese and whisk again until mixture is smooth. Keep cheesecake filling refrigerated until ready to use.

Add a spoonful of lemon curd into the centre of each tartlet. Transfer cheesecake filling to a pastry bag and pipe a dollop on top of each tartlet. Top with a variety of fruits to make a rainbow of tartlets. Keep tartlets refrigerated until ready to enjoy.

Tea trend

No high tea is complete without a great selection of teas to suit any preference. Flavoured tea is all the rage with amazing health benefits too. Try moringa infusion, peppermint-infused green tea, lemon ginger tea, cranberry tea and vanilla chai tea.

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