PEAK SEASON SUPPERS #3: Summery berry tart

Welcome to the latest Peak Season Supper - when I take whatever the garden gives me and put it all on a plate. This is a challenge to take fruit and veg at its tip top, gluttingly abundant peak and find a way to put as much of it as I can into one dish – a celebration of Now.

As usual, I’ll start each edition with a quick list of what’s at its height this month and then cram it all into one recipe.

Need to catch up? Here’s what we made last time:

I think it’d be easier to write a list of what’s not picking right now. But here we go with the gloriously long list of goodies in season in August:

• Apricot

• Blackberry

• Blackcurrant

• Blueberry

• Damson

• Elderberry

• Fig

• Gooseberry

• Greengage

• Loganberry

• Nectarine

• Peach

• Plum

• Raspberry

• Redcurrant

• Strawberry

• Tayberry

• Beetroot

• Broad bean

• Broccoli

• Cabbage (green savoy types)

• Cabbage (green pointed types)

• Cabbage (white)

• Cabbage (red)

• Carrot

• Cauliflower

• Cavolo nero

• Celery

• Chard

• Chicory

• Chilli peppers

• Courgette and summer squash

• Cucumber

• Fennel (bulb)

• Globe artichoke

• Green beans

• Kale

• Kohlrabi

• Lamb’s lettuce

• Leek

• Lettuce

• Mangetout

• Mushroom (cultivated)

• Mushroom (wild)

• Mustard leaves and mizuna

• Onions

• Pak choi

• Peas

• Peppers (capsicum)

• Potato (maincrop)

• Potato (new)

• Radish

• Runner bean

• Spinach (perpetual)

• Spring onions

• Sweetcorn

• Tomatoes

• Turnip

• Watercress

I have lots of berries in my new veg patch (as you can see), so I want to show you an easy and flexible pudding that I’ve been making on repeat every summer for years and sees them all piled up on one delicious tart. The best part is, you can pile it up with whatever soft fruit your garden is giving you.

And if making a pastry case feels like a faff too far (though I assure you it’s easier than you think), then the creamy filling, which is the work of moments, can be served in glasses with whatever berries you have and a biscuit for crunch, or used as a fridge cheesecake ‘filling’ instead.

I like a mixture of sweet and tart fruit here – sour black and red currants, tart gooseberries combined with the floral sweetness of strawberries, raspberries and tayberries. But the best thing about this recipe is that it will make any soft fruit you have sing – plums, peaches and figs included.

Makes 1 tart for 7 people (plus enough pastry for another tart base)

• 200g double cream

• 200g cream cheese

• 1 tsp vanilla paste

• 2 tbsp runny honey

• Approx. 300g berries and currants

For the pastry (based on Ottolenghi’s bulletproof recipe):

• 330g plain flour

• 100g icing sugar

• 180g cold, cubed butter

• 1 egg yolk

• 1-2 tbsp cold water

For the pastry, mix the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor until sandy. Add the egg and water and whizz until just combined. Shape into two disks, put one in the freezer for next time and chill the other for at least 30 minutes.

To blind bake the pastry case, preheat the oven to 180C. Roll out the pastry 3mm thick and line a (roughly) 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Cover the pastry with cling film or baking paper and fill the case with baking beans, rice or lentils. Bake for 20 minutes or until sandy and firm in the middle. Remove the beans and continue to cook for a further 5-10 minutes or until the pastry is lightly golden. Remove and allow to cool.

While the case cooks, make the filling. Whisk together the cream, cream cheese, vanilla paste and honey until it forms billowy soft peaks.

Once the pastry case it completely cooled (it must be cool or the filling will melt), spoon in the cream filling. Pile the berries on top and serve.