Custard is often quite hard to perfect, so when making this recipe, make sure you bring your sugar and water to a syrupy consistency and then allow it to cool slightly before adding the eggs. This is make the custard thick and prevent the egg from cooking in the sugar syrup.
Ingredients
Shortcrust Pastry
- 250g Plain Flour
- 1 Tbsp Caster Sugar
- 140g Chilled Butter
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 2 Tbsp chilled water
Custard Filling
- 160ml water
- 80g caster sugar
- 5 eggs
- 80ml milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
- Start by making the pastry; sift the flour into a large bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the flour. Use your hands to rub the butter and flour together until you get a breadcrumb like texture. Stir in the sugar with a cutlery knife.
- Mix the egg yolk and water together in a small bowl. Add 1 Tbsp of the egg mix to the crumb. Use a cutlery knife to quickly and evenly distribute the liquid in the crumb. This will begin to create flakes of pastry – if the pastry seems dry or isn’t flaking, add another Tbsp of egg mix. Now use your hands to bring the pastry together. Knead the pastry a tiny bit to make sure the texture is even throughout. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge to cool down for 10 minutes.
- Roll out the pastry to 2mm thickness. Cut 12 rounds out of the pastry and line a 12 hole muffin tray, making sure you press it firmly into the edges. Use a cutlery knife to cut any overhanging pastry off and neaten them up. Place in the fridge and chill until firm. Preheat the oven to 200ᵒC.
- To blind bake the tart cases: cut out small circles of baking paper and press into the edges of the pastry tarts. Fill the cases generously with baking beans.
- Place the tart shells in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and take out the baking beans and paper. Reduce the oven temperature to 180ᵒC.
- Meanwhile, combine the caster sugar and water in a medium saucepan on a low heat. Cook until the sugar has dissolved and then increase the temperature to medium-high. Simmer the liquid until you have a light syrupy texture. Remove from heat and leave to cool. Use a fork to lightly whisk the eggs. Stir the eggs, milk and vanilla into the sugar syrup. Strain the custard through a sieve, and fill the tart shells 2/3 – using a small jug is the easiest way!
- Bake for 10-15 minutes until the pastry is golden brown and the filling has puffed up a little bit.
