I've never been a fan of egg custard tart, homemade or bought. It's just too eggy for me but hubby is the reverse and simply loves egg custard. The pastry is thicker than usual because a bought tart mostly has a thick layer of pastry and that's exactly what he wanted.
It's quite rare for me to make custard tart because you can buy a good one from M&S!
The custard is a recipe by the late and great Keith Floyd who says "This is the real thing"........ the pastry recipe is one I use time and again.
You will need: 20cm loose base flan tin lightly greased
Pastry:
- 175g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 75g cold butter, cubed
- 25g caster sugar
- 1 medium egg, beaten with a splash of water
- 1 extra egg for coating the pastry case
Thermomix method in italics:
Place the flour and butter in a food processor and whiz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix in briefly, then add 3 tablespoons of the egg and water mixture. Whiz until the dough just comes together.
Place the flour, butter, sugar and 3 tablespoons of the egg and water mixture into the TM jug 20 Secs/Speed 4.
Wrap the pastry in clingwrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Remove from the fridge and allow to come up to room temperature. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface and line the tin.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/ Gas 5 and place a heavy baking sheet inside on the oven rack to heat up.
Prick the base of the pastry all over with a fork, now chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Line the pastry case with crumpled baking paper and spread over a layer of baking beans. Place on the heated baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the baking paper and beans. Brush the pastry case with beaten egg. Return the part baked pastry case to the oven for 10 minutes until light golden brown. Leave the pastry case in the tin to cool on a rack.
For the egg custard:
Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- 40g caster sugar
- ½ level teaspoon cornflour
- 300ml single cream
- Vanilla pod
- Grated nutmeg
Reduce the oven to 150°C.
Beat the eggs with the sugar and cornflour. Keep on beating to dissolve the sugar.
Pour the cream into a small saucepan, pierce the vanilla pod and add to the cream. On a medium heat bring the cream to boiling point. Remove from the heat.
Carefully remove the vanilla pod and pour the cream onto the egg mixture whilst whisking continuously.
Strain the mixture into the baked pastry case and grate fresh nutmeg over the custard.
Return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes until set.
