Egg Custard Tarts

Delicious egg custard in a sweet pastry, with a sprinkle of nutmeg

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Dessert

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 25

Total Time 1 25

Servings

Calories 222kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Ingredients

For the pastry

120 g Butter cold, unsalted
200 g Plain flour
45 g Caster sugar
2 - 2 ½ tbsp Milk

For the filling

5 Egg yolks (from large eggs)
65 g Caster sugar
500 ml Whole milk
2 tsp Vanilla extract or the seeds from a vanilla pod
Nutmeg for sprinkling

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

To make the pastry put the plain flour and caster sugar in a mixing bowl and stir them together
Add the butter in chunks and use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour mixture until it looks like breadcrumbs. You can also do this using a fork, or in a food processor
Add the milk slowly (you may not need it all, or you may need a little more, as different flour brands absorb differently) and stir it into the mixture until it forms a dough. Shape it into a ball, but avoid kneading it. Wrap it in clingfilm and chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes
Meanwhile, pre-heat the oven to 180C Fan/200C/400F/Gas Mark 6 and grease a muffin/cupcake tin with a little butter or baking spread. Add strips of baking paper to each cupcake hole so you can easily lift the tarts out once baked
Roll out the pastry onto a floured work top. Keep the pastry moving as you roll it out so it doesn't stick, and add more flour to the surface and rolling pin as required
Use an 4 inch (10cm) round cutter to cut out 12 circles of pastry, you may need to re-roll the pastry to get all 12
Place the pastry rounds into the tin, use your fingers to gently shape the pastry to the holes in the tin, smoothing the sides down. Put into the fridge while you make the custard
For the custard, heat up the whole milk and vanilla extract on a low heat until luke warm
In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the caster sugar together until smooth
Pour the warm milk into the egg mixture, continuously whisking as you pour. Then pour the mixture, through a fine sieve and into a jug
Place the cupcake tin onto the oven shelf (you may need to support it with your hand in an oven glove), then pour the custard into the pastry cases using the jug. Fill up the cases as much as you can, then sprinkle the nutmeg over the top. Very slowly and carefully push the shelf into the oven, you do not want to spill the custard mixture over the sides of each tart
Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 160C Fan/180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 for the final 10 minutes. They are done when the custard starts to brown and blister on top, and the pastry looks golden around the edges and the custard has puffed up slightly (it will sink down as they cool)
Take the tarts out of the oven and let them cool for 30 minutes in the tin. Then remove from the tin using the greaseproof paper strips to assist you. If any custard did spill over the edges you may need to run a knife around the sides too
Store in the fridge and eat within 2 days

Video

Notes

You can use either a baking spread or block butter for the shortcrust pastry. It should be used cold straight from the fridge.
Make sure your eggs are at room temperature before you make the custard.
For the custard, you can use either vanilla extract or the seeds from one vanilla pod. If using extract, use a good quality one for the best flavour, and avoid using a vanilla essence.
Whole milk is best for the custard, you can use semi-skimmed though, or a mixture of the two.
You could sprinkle the custard tarts with cinnamon instead of nutmeg if you prefer.
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

Nutrition