Recipe: Tamarind Custard Tart
From simple scones to impressive pies: in British Baking Book, Regula Ysewijn, judge on Bake off Vlaanderen, pays tribute to the extensive British baking culture. She delved into the archives and does justice to the classics. Though she does occasionally make a few adjustments. As in this tamarind custard tart, which in the original recipe by Charles Carter in The Complete Practical Cook (1730) was made with puff pastry, but is actually much tastier with this shortcrust.
We mainly know tamarind from Indian cuisine, where it is ideal for adding acidity to a dish and intensifying flavours. Through the East India Company, it found its way to Great Britain, and in combination with bay leaf and mace, it makes this custard quite extraordinary.
Method
- Make the shortcrust pastry by blitzing the flour, sugar, salt and butter in a food processor with the blade attachment. Blitz in short bursts until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then add the water and egg and blitz again in short bursts until the dough forms a ball in the bowl. Remove from the bowl and knead briefly.
- Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Prepare a tart tin (see p. 19). Roll out the dough on a floured work surface. Let the dough sink into the tart tin and make sure it sits firmly in the edges of the base by pressing it down with a piece of excess dough. Use a knife to trim the excess pastry, then prick the base with a fork. Freeze for 1 hour or chill in the fridge for a few hours and preheat your oven to 200 °C.
- Crinkle a piece of baking paper, smooth it out again and place it in the tart tin. Fill with baking beans or rice and place in the centre of the oven to blind-bake for 10 minutes, until the edge of the crust is coloured. Then remove the paper and baking beans or rice and bake the bases for another 5 minutes to dry them further.
- Brush the base with the egg mixture to provide extra protection against the runny filling and bake for 5 minutes. Leave the tart base to cool.
- For the custard filling, heat the milk and cream with the sugar, bay leaf and mace in a saucepan. Beat the egg yolks and whole egg in a separate large bowl.
- Remove the spices and pour a very small amount of the warm milk-and-cream mixture into the eggs and whisk well; this prepares the egg yolks for the hot mixture. Now pour the rest of the milk into the eggs while whisking well with a balloon whisk.
- Drop approximately 1/8 teaspoonfuls of tamarind concentrate onto the tart base until your tart is speckled. Strain the custard into a jug and pour it into the tart tin over the tamarind.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 130 °C and bake for 35–40 minutes in the lower part of the oven.
Image: Regula Ysewijn
Title: British Baking Book
Author: Regula Ysewijn
Price: €31,99
Publisher: Carrera Culinair
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