Individual Baked Custard Tarts
by Jay Rayner
Inspired by the custard tart served by Gary Rhodes, at his many restaurants including Rhodes in the Square and City Rhodes.This recipe uses shop-bought all-butter puff and a clever way of working with it popular in Portugal which, appropriately enough, I picked up from the Portuguese chef Nuno Mendes who proposed it in a recipe for making pastel de nata or Portuguese custard tarts. The custard filling belongs firmly to Rhodes. Read the full story in Jay Rayners new book, linked below.
Method
Based on 12 servings, adjust as needed.
Step 1
Heat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.
Step 2
Liberally brush the inside of a 12-muffin tin with melted butter, and put the tin in the fridge to chill.
Step 3
Take the packs of puff pastry out of the fridge 10 minutes before you need them so they warm up a little. Unroll them on their greaseproof paper, then roll them out with a rolling pin so the sheet increases in size by about 10%. (The pack’s instructions will tell you not to roll it because it will compress the laminations. Don’t worry. That’s exactly what we want. It will still be flaky.)
Step 4
Starting from the short side of the sheet, roll the blocks of pastry up into two tight cylinders. With a sharp knife, slice of the ragged ends, then cut the long cylinders into smaller 3cm cylinders. If you have any left over, freeze for later.
Step 5
Using your thumbs on the flat ends of the cylinder, press each one into a disc, and then press into the tins by hand, so that the pastry just comes up over the lip of each cup. Put back into the fridge for 15 minutes to chill.
Step 6
Cut squares of greaseproof paper big enough to fully line each cup, then fill with ceramic baking beans or dried beans to bake the pastry blind. Bake with the beans in place for 15 minutes, then take out the beans and paper, brush the inside of the tarts with a little of the leftover egg white to seal, and bake for a further 5 minutes. Once they have had a couple of minutes to cool, gently hold the rim of each one between thumb and index finger and lightly turn them in their cups. They should release. It’s easier to do this now when they are unfilled, rather than when they are completed. Turn the oven down to 150°C/300°F/gas mark 2.
Step 7
While the tart cases are blind baking, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar. Bring the cream to the boil. Take the pan off the heat, let the boiling subside, then pour it over the egg and sugar mix and stir to incorporate. Pour the mix through a sieve into a bowl, ideally one with a lip.
Step 8
Pull the shelf out of the oven, place the muffin tin on it and then pour the custard into each one. (You can do it on the kitchen work surface if you think you can get the muffin tin back into the oven without spilling anything. (Good luck with that.)
Step 9
Grate nutmeg over the top, then bake the tarts for 20 minutes. When done the custard should be firm with a slight wobble.
Step 10
Allow them to cool for 5 minutes, then lift them out on to a rack.
Step 11
If you want to glaze them, make sure the rack is over an oven tray to catch the drips. Gently heat the honey in a saucepan so it goes liquid, and mix in the lemon juice. Brush the pastry rim and sides generously with the glaze. Don’t worry if it gets on the surface of the custard. It just adds to the flavour.
- Ingredients
- Based on 12 servings
-
8 Egg Yolks 1x Sainsbury's British Free Range Eggs Medium x12 -
75g Sugar 1x Sainsbury's White Caster Sugar 500g -
0.5 A Whole Nutmeg, for grating 1x Sainsbury's Whole Nutmeg 36g -
500ml Double Cream 1x Sainsbury's Double Cream 600ml -
3 tbsp Honey 1x Sainsbury's Runny Honey 340g -
0.5 Lemon, juice of 1x Sainsbury's Lemons -
1 tbsp Butter, for melting 1x Sainsbury's British Butter, Unsalted 250g -
2 rolls Shop Bought All Butter Puff Pastry 2x Jus-Rol Puff Pastry Ready Rolled Sheet 320g