Dr Mobeus
Egg Custard Tart
Every proper British bakery has one, sitting quietly in the window between the cream horns and the bakewells: a pale yellow egg custard tart with a snowfall of nutmeg on top. It is one of the oldest and simplest puddings in the country, and it still costs less than almost anything else on the counter.
The filling is nothing more than eggs, milk and sugar. With a sheet of value ready-rolled pastry, the whole tart comes to about £1.95, or roughly 25p a slice. A single custard tart from a bakery costs more than that these days.
The only trick is patience. Bake it low and slow so the custard sets gently rather than scrambling, and take it out while the very centre still has a slight wobble. It finishes setting as it cools, giving you that soft, barely-there texture that makes the bakery version so good.
Egg Custard Tart
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Use the pastry to line a 20cm round tart tin, a loose-bottomed one is easiest. Press it into the flutes, trim the excess and chill the case for 10 minutes in the fridge.
- Warm the milk in a small pan until steaming, but do not let it boil.
- Whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla in a jug, then pour in the warm milk, whisking as you go.
- Put the pastry case on the oven shelf, then carefully pour the custard in, right up to the top. Grate a good snowy covering of nutmeg over the whole surface.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until the custard is just set but still has a slight wobble in the very centre when you nudge the tin.
- Cool completely in the tin before removing and slicing. The custard firms up as it cools and shrinks back slightly, which makes cutting clean slices much easier.
Tips and Variations
The nutmeg is not optional, it is the flavour that makes a custard tart taste right. If the pastry edges brown too quickly, tear a strip of foil and lay it loosely around the rim. There should only be a slight wobble in the centre when it is done, if the whole surface ripples it needs a few more minutes. Leftovers keep well in the fridge for a couple of days.
