Egg Custard Tart

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:10:12 +0000

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.

Maple taffy on snow

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:35:03 +0000

When I was in Canada in February 2009, one local delicacy I repeatedly bought was Maple Taffy. It's maple syrup (made in the local area), heated to boiling point and poured over snow in thin streams. A wooden skewer is then dipped in it, and once the syrup has hardened slightly it's rolled up. Thanks to the recent so called 'Big Freeze' in England, we were able to re-create this splendid treat!

I know what you're thinking; We're always told not to eat yellow snow, well this is an exception to the rule :)

All you need is:

1 Tin of golden syrup (or maple if you can get it!)
Snow, in a baking tray, patted down flat
Some chopsticks/skewers.

Step 1) Bring the syrup to boiling point

Step 2) Pour the syrup over the snow and immediatly put the stick in.

Step 3) When hard, roll the syrup around the stick.

Step 4) Eat!

Step 5) Thoroughly brush your precious teeth with a fluoride toothpaste :)

Craig's entries on I'm glad it burnt

Egg Custard Tart

Maple taffy on snow