INGREDIENTS:
For The Almond Pastry:
200g diced butter
330g plain flour
130g icing sugar
30g ground almonds
1 egg and 1 egg yolk
1/2tsp salt
For The Custard Filling:
9 egg yolks
75g caster sugar
500ml of cream
10g vanilla extract
1 whole nutmeg
METHOD:
For The Almond Pastry:
1. Cream together the butter and icing sugar in a mixer using the paddle attachment.
2. Add the egg and egg yolk and mix into the butter and sugar. Add the flour, salt and ground almonds and mix until everything is combined.
3. Turn the pastry onto a clean work surface. Form the pastry into in a ball, wrap in cling film and place in the fridge. Allow to chill for at least 1 hour or ideally overnight.
For The Tart Case:
4. Brush a 9” tart case with melted butter and lightly dust with flour. Individual tart cases can also be used.
5. Roll out the pastry to about a ½ cm thickness. The pastry needs to be about 6cm larger than the pastry case. Roll the pastry up on a rolling pin and using the rolling pin to transfer the pastry. Drape the pastry over the pastry case. Press the pastry into place. Run a rolling pin over the top of the pastry case to remove any excess pastry.
6. To blind bake cover the inside of the pastry case with parchment paper and fill with baking beans.
7. Bake in a preheated oven 170 C for 20 minutes. Remove the parchment and baking beans. Brush the tart case with a beaten egg and return the pastry case to the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes. The pastry case should be dry and crisp. Brushing the tart case with egg before returning to the oven will seal any potential cracks that may form . It will seal the inside of the tart case which will prevent any mixture from leaking out of that tart.
8. Remove the pastry case and reduce the oven temperature to 135c.
For The Custard Filling:
9. Bring the cream to the boil. Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla. Add the cream and mix well. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve.
10. Place the blind baked tart case into the preheated oven at 135c, pour in the custard mixture filling right to the top of the pastry case. I like to fill the tart case with the custard mixture as it sits in the oven as it will mean that I do not have to move the pastry case once filled thus avoiding any spillages.
11. Cover the top of the tart with grated nutmeg and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. The custard filling should have a slight wobble when baked.
12. Remove from the oven and allow to cool so as to allow the tart to set fully before serving.
