Caramel custard tart

  

This is a sensation of flavour and texture – it’s also pretty full on in terms of indulgence...not one for the faint hearted!  The buttery, crumbly pastry works beautifully with the sweet, rich custard filling.  I am pleased I added the plain whipped cream on top as it lightens the dish.

I do love tinned caramel.  I’ve always found making caramel a little bit hit and miss and this takes all the stress out of it.  I don’t struggle with making the caramel it’s usually what follows – this recipe contained the instructions for making caramel but then told you to stand the pan in cold water before whisking in cream.  I did that...and my caramel set hard at the bottom of the pan!  Oh how I enjoyed cleaning up after that little mishap....not!

This is sweet.  And I’m saying that.  Best to serve in smaller slices and let people have more if they want it.  Sigh. This is the sort of thing I type when I try to be populist...who am I kidding?  Of course I don’t recommend serving it in small slices – serve it in big slices!  Always big slices!

The cream balls on the top caused a bit of a stir.  Luckily, they came out looking cute but I cannot claim this was the intended design.  Having selected a plain piping tip, I didn’t really have a plan so started piping dumpy little balls...and then kept on going!  I was asked what they were and explained that you could now buy whipped cream balls that came on a sheet and you just peeled them off and placed them.  I did not expect this to be believed.  But it was.  Twice.  My relatives are gullible!

Please check out the result from my cake mould giveaway – if you’re Liz, please get in touch with your address!

Ingredients

For the pastry:

225g plain flour
50g icing sugar
150g unsalted butter, straight from the fridge
1 egg

For the custard filling:

375g caramel – I used a tinned, ready made version
4 egg yolks
150ml double cream
150ml full fat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To decorate:

300ml double cream

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan oven 180°C/400°F/gas mark 6.

Place the flour, sugar and butter in a food processor and blitz until you have fine crumbs.

Add the egg and blitz again until the pastry just starts to come together.

Tip out onto a sheet of clingfilm – don’t panic, the pastry is very soft at this stage.

Form into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Roll out between two sheets of clingfilm and then line a 23cm loose bottomed tart tin.  There is no need to grease the tin.

Don’t worry if you need to patch the pastry – it’s very good natured!

Refrigerate for a further 20 minutes.

Line the pastry case with baking paper or non stick foil and weigh down with baking beads.

Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the beads and paper and bake uncovered for a further 5 minutes.

Leave to cool.

Reduce the oven to 160°C/fan oven 140°C/325°F/gas mark 3.

Now make the filling: tip the caramel into a small pan and heat gently to loosen it up.

In a large bowl beat the egg yolks until they are pale and fluffy.

In another pan, bring the double cream and milk just to the boil, before adding the vanilla.

Beating the whole time, pour the cream and milk over the egg yolks.

Still beating, add the warm caramel.

Pour through a sieve back into the saucepan you heated the cream in.  This is important as it will ensure there are no lumps of caramel.  Use a wooden spoon to push the caramel through.

Stir over a gentle heat until the custard coats the back of the spoon and you can draw a line through it with your finger.

Pour into the pastry case and bake for approximately 35 minutes or until the custard is set but still has a wobble in the centre.

Leave to cool completely.

Whip the double cream and pipe over the top of the tart.

Serve in generous slices.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.