#15 English Custard Tart
When I say this is HAS to be in my top 3 favourite desserts....
Hello and welcome back to another slice of The Seasonal Kitchen, thank you so much for being here. We have been celebrating all month with not one, not two, but FOUR major birthday’s within my family, so desserts have been on the menu! This week I am celebrating the wonderfully sweet & verstitle Custard.
And what better crowd-pleaser than an English Custard Tart? I am keeping the writing short and sweet for this round, so just scroll below to get the full scrumptious recipe! Over on TSK+ I am sharing my fragrant & decadent Double Blueberry Frangipane Custard Streusel Bars. Hit the button to subscribe to extra special recipes & behind the scenes action!
English Custard Tart
Ingredients (serves 8-10)
(For the Sweet Pastry case)
250g plain flour
50g Icing sugar
160g very cold salted butter, cubed
2 egg yolks
1 Tbsp Vanilla Bean Paste
Pinch of Salt
(vanilla custard filling)
750g double cream
90g caster sugar divided in half
13 large egg yolks
1 Tbsp Vanilla Bean Paste
Pinch of salt
Whole nutmeg for grating
Method
1) Start by adding all the pastry dough ingredients together into a food processor. Pulse for 20/30 seconds until evenly combined. Shape into a smooth circle puck with your hands and wrap in cling film. Pop into the fridge to set for 4 hours. Make sure you have a fluted, deep 9" tin.
Once the dough has chilled in the fridge, lightly knead to ensure the dough is the same temperature throughout- otherwise it will be prone to tearing. Lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour.
Roll the dough out to 4/5mm thick and a little larger than the circumference of your tin. Gently drape the pastry into the tin and push it into any crevices. This is a very soft dough so do expect some tearing. Just gently patch it back together with a little more dough and smooth it out with your fingertips. Pop back into the fridge for 30/40 minutes. Preheat your oven to 170°C Fan. (see video below for help!)
Crunch some parchment paper into a ball and add on top of the chilled dough. Add either baking beans, rice or dried peas/beans etc and blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove the parchment along with the beans and bake again for a further 15 minutes.
To make the filling, add the cream, the salt, vanilla bean paste and half the sugar into a saucepot. Heat gently until warm and set aside. Now add your egg yolks and sugar into a mixing bowl. Whisk together to combine. Slowly pour the heated vanilla cream into the eggs, constantly whisking. Lower the oven to 135°C fan.
Now pour the warm custard into your pastry case and lightly grate some nutmeg over the top. Bake for 45 minutes until you have a gentle wobble in the middle. You can serve this 30 minutes after removing from the oven or you can pop this in the fridge for a few hours and eat then. I like serving mine with fresh red berries.
