Cooking for Beginners recipes, structured

Custard Tart

A deep, thin-walled pastry case filled at the oven shelf with a nine-yolk cream custard, baked low and never refrigerated.

Prep
45m
Cook
1h 10m
Waiting
5h
Total
6h 55m
Serves
10
Effort
Involved
Scale
10
Units

Method

Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.

500 g Infuse the cream with nutmeg, then whisk it into the yolks 20m Pour the hot cream in slowly while whisking, or you get sweet scrambled egg. Strain the custard into the hot case, already sitting on the oven shelf 6m Fill it to the brim there. Carrying it across the kitchen never ends well. Bake at 130°C / 265°F for 45 minutes until set with a slight wobble 45m Very low heat. A custard this rich curdles the moment it goes past 85°C. Cool to room temperature for at least 3 hours, then grate more nutmeg over 3h 5m Never refrigerate it. Cold dulls the dairy and the pastry goes damp.
9
90 g
half a whole nutmeg
250 g Rub to crumbs, bind with the yolks, and rest 1 hour 1h 10m Roll to 3 mm, line the tin with an overhang, and chill 30 minutes 40m Patch any crack with raw pastry. A single pinhole empties the tart into the oven. Blind bake at 180°C for 20 minutes, then 5 more uncovered 28m The case must be fully baked and still hot when it is filled.
125 g
50 g
2
2 tbsp
Read left to right: ingredients merge into steps, and the rightmost cell is the last thing you do. Steps account for 6h 34m of hands-on and cooking time.

  1. Infuse the cream with nutmeg, then whisk it into the yolks

    20m
    • double cream 500 g
    • egg yolks 9
    • caster sugar 90 g
    • nutmeg half a whole nutmeg

    Pour the hot cream in slowly while whisking, or you get sweet scrambled egg.

  2. Rub to crumbs, bind with the yolks, and rest 1 hour

    1h 10m
    • plain flour 250 g
    • unsalted butter 125 g
    • caster sugar 50 g
    • egg yolks 2
    • cold water 2 tbsp

  3. Roll to 3 mm, line the tin with an overhang, and chill 30 minutes

    40m
    • from 2 Rub to crumbs, bind with the yolks, and rest 1 hour

    Patch any crack with raw pastry. A single pinhole empties the tart into the oven.

  4. Blind bake at 180°C for 20 minutes, then 5 more uncovered

    28m
    • from 3 Roll to 3 mm, line the tin with an overhang, and chill 30 minutes

    The case must be fully baked and still hot when it is filled.

  5. Strain the custard into the hot case, already sitting on the oven shelf

    6m
    • from 1 Infuse the cream with nutmeg, then whisk it into the yolks
    • from 4 Blind bake at 180°C for 20 minutes, then 5 more uncovered

    Fill it to the brim there. Carrying it across the kitchen never ends well.

  6. Bake at 130°C / 265°F for 45 minutes until set with a slight wobble

    45m
    • from 5 Strain the custard into the hot case, already sitting on the oven shelf

    Very low heat. A custard this rich curdles the moment it goes past 85°C.

  7. Cool to room temperature for at least 3 hours, then grate more nutmeg over

    3h 5m
    • from 6 Bake at 130°C / 265°F for 45 minutes until set with a slight wobble

    Never refrigerate it. Cold dulls the dairy and the pastry goes damp.

Yolks only, and why the oven is barely on

Egg yolk sets around 65 to 70°C, white nearer 62°C but far more tightly — whites give you a rubbery, weeping custard, so this uses none. Yolks also carry lecithin, which emulsifies the fat in the cream and keeps the set silky rather than curdled. Even so, the margin between set and split is narrow, so the oven sits at 130°C and the custard coasts gently up to temperature. It should still be trembling when you take it out, because carryover heat finishes it.

Notes

  • Nine yolks is not a misprint. Fewer and the tart will not hold a clean edge.
  • Strain the custard. It removes chalazae and any strand of set egg.
  • Trim the pastry overhang with a serrated knife after baking, flush with the tin.

Try butter, 30 minutes, braise, or an ingredient you need to use up.