Custard Tart

Ingredients

• 8 oz shortcrust pastry (store-bought or homemade)
• 4 large eggs
• 10 fl oz whole milk
• 2 fl oz double cream
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or a scrape of vanilla pod
• pinch freshly grated nutmeg (for topping)

Step by step

1. Line and chill the tart tin

   Roll out your shortcrust to about 3mm thickness and press it into the tin, letting it overhang slightly. Prick the base all over with a fork. Chill for at least 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan).

2. Blind-bake until golden and crisp

   Line the chilled shell with greaseproof paper and fill with baking weights or dried beans. Bake for 15 minutes, then carefully remove the weights and paper. If the base looks wet, return it to the oven for 3-4 minutes. The pastry should be light golden and crisp to the touch. Remove from the oven and keep it warm.

3. Whisk and sieve the custard mixture

   Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, salt, and vanilla in a bowl. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into another bowl—this removes any stringy bits of egg white and creates a silky texture. Let it sit for a minute or two; any foam will rise to the surface and you can skim it off with a spoon.

4. Pour and bake until barely set at center

   Pour the custard into the warm pastry case. Lower the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Bake for 25-35 minutes, watching carefully after 25 minutes. The filling should barely wobble at the very center when you gently move the tin. The edges should look just set but never browned. A small knife inserted into the custard about 1 inch from the edge should come out clean; the very center will be softer.

5. Cool and dust with nutmeg

   Remove the tart from the oven and let it rest in the tin for 5 minutes. Run a small knife around the inside edge and push the base up to release the tart onto a cooling rack. Once completely cool, dust the top with freshly grated nutmeg just before serving. The tart can be served at room temperature or slightly warm.

Tips

• If your pastry case cracks during blind-baking, brush the crack with a little beaten egg white and return it to the oven for 2 minutes to seal it.
• Cold custard is grainy custard. Always pour into a warm pastry case, not a cold one.
• The oven temperature is more important than the exact baking time. A 10-degree difference in actual oven temperature can shift the baking time by 5 minutes or more.
• Don't rely on the top browning to tell you it's done—custard tarts rarely brown noticeably on top. Go by the wobble test instead.
• If you overbake and the custard splits, it's still edible but the texture will be slightly curdled. Serve it slightly chilled, which helps mask the issue.

Variations

• Portuguese Custard Tart: Use a higher ratio of egg yolks to whole eggs (6 yolks and 2 whole eggs instead of 4 whole eggs), reduce the milk to 6 fl oz, and increase the cream to 4 fl oz. Add a cinnamon stick to the custard as it sits. The result is richer, more intensely yellow, and slightly less stable—it should jiggle more noticeably. Dust the baked tart with cinnamon and a light scattering of icing sugar instead of nutmeg.
• Treacle Custard Tart: Add 1 tablespoon of black treacle or dark molasses to the custard mixture and omit the vanilla. The custard becomes slightly darker and more complex. Proceed as normal. This version sits somewhere between custard and chess pie.
• Lemon Custard Tart: Add the zest of 1 lemon and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice to the custard mixture. The acidity can cause the custard to set slightly faster, so watch the timing closely. Dust with caster sugar instead of nutmeg.