Directions
Custard tarts have long been a favourite pastry in Britain and the Commonwealth. They are often called egg custard tarts or simply egg custards. The custard tart featured regularly on the popular British sitcom “As Time Goes By” as the favorite of Lionel (Geoffrey Palmer)
Servings: 12 Tarts
Ingredients
For the sweet pastry
- 5 3/4 oz Flour
- 1 oz Almonds - ground
- 4 1/4 oz Butter unsalted
- 2 oz Granulated sugar
- 1 ea Egg - large
For the custard
- 25 oz Whole milk
- 7 ea Egg yolk
- 3 1/4 oz Granulated sugar
- 1 pn Ground nutmeg
To finish
- Icing sugar
Instructions
For the pastry
- For the pastry, stir the flour and ground almonds together in a large bowl, then add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar.
- Add the egg and using your fingers, work it into the mixture until it comes together into a soft dough.
- Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and form it into a ball. Use your fingers to flatten the ball into a disc. Wrap in cling film and leave to chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Preheat an oven to 400ºF
- Roll out the disc of sweet pastry on a lightly floured work surface.
- Very lightly butter a 12 hole (medium size) muffin tin.
- Cut out twelve discs using a 4 1/2" cutter. Place the pastry circles into the muffin tin spaces. The pastry should overlap the top of the holes just enough for you to crimp the edges.
For the custard filling
- In a small saucepan, gently warm the milk.. In a small bowl, beat together the egg yolks and sugar until light and creamy.
- Pour the milk onto the egg yolk mixture and stir well, so it bubbles slightly when done..
- With a ladle or from a jug, pour the egg custard mixture into the pastry cases then sprinkle each tart with a pinch of fresh grated nutmeg.
- Bake the custard tarts in the oven for about 25 minutes. You may need to turn the temperature down to 350ºF for the final 10 minutes. Watch the tarts as they bake as you do not want the custard to boil which will cause the filling to flop when you take them out. When you see a slight dome on the custard filling, that is when the custard is done and you will need to turn the temperature down to allow the pastry shell to finish baking.
- Cool in the muffin tin for 30 minutes before carefully removing the custard tarts.. The pastry shell should be perfectly baked through, without the custard filling collapsing Dust with a little confectioners sugar and serve.
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