Egg Custard Tart

Whenever I make something with pastry, there's always some left over. Of course I make the obligatory jam tarts with the spare pastry, but this time I decided to make something else. A personal favourite of mine are Egg Custard Tarts, and since earlier on in the day at school, I'd made another tart - I had some left-over pastry.

Some people say never to re-use pastry, but any sensible foodie would never throw it out!

Here's my recipe for a large Egg Custard Tart (not individual portions!)

What you need:

• 4oz Shortcrust Pastry
• 2 medium eggs
• ½ pint milk
• 2 tbsp sugar
• Grated nutmeg
• 7 inch tin

Step 1. Start with rolling out the pastry on a floured surface until it's around ¼ cm thick.

Step 2. Place it over your tin and cut off the excess pastry. No, don't do that - I did, and of course pastry shrinks in the oven... so let a bit of pastry hang over the top.

Step 3. Bake blind for 15 minutes at 180°C, or gas mark 4. (FYI: Baking blind means we replace what would be the actual filling with anything that will prevent the pastry base from rising - usually dried beans, rice or lentals).

Step 4. Whilst the pastry is in the oven, we'll make the proper filling. Pour the milk and sugar into a saucepan and bring to the boil. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. When the milk reaches boiling point, pour it in with the eggs and stir well.

Step 5. Once the pastry is cooked, remove your fake filling of choice. Now your can cut the excess pastry off. Pour the egg mixture into the cooked pastry case. Cook for a further 15 minutes until the egg mixture has set.

Here's where I went slightly wrong - The pastry had shrunk a little and made gaps between the pastry and the loose bottom tin I was using. Not wanting to waste anything, I carried on pouring over the top of the pastry. Of course I forgot about the loose bottom and it went everywhere! So, my advice is to put it on a baking tray to avoid making a mess of your kitchen :)

Even after cooking the egg tart, there was still pastry left over, so with that I made Jam Tarts.

If that happens to you too - here's what to do...

• Roll out the pastry to your preferred thickness
• Cut out the correct size with a pastry cutter
• Put a spoonful of jam in, again don't over fill - but don't skimp either!
• Bake at 180°C for 15-20 minutes. Simplz.

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pastry

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egg

custard

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tart

left-overs