Now what about Custard Tarts in As Time Goes By???

19 years ago

I do recall these from my days in England, but I think fondly of them each week as himself and I watch ATGB reruns on Sat night. (Yes, we almost have the dialog memorized!)

So what about a replication of the ones Lionel loves so much?And do homemade keep in tins as he keeps his? I know "Jean" is not the baker since we've never heard that mentioned in any show. Maureen

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Daisyduckworth

19 years ago

last modified: 11 years ago

Love that show! Love custard tarts! Luckily for me I don't have to make them. There's a bakery around the corner who does them brilliantly. We never actually see Lionel's custard tarts, but the ones we get are about 10cm (4 inches) or so in diameter.

Here's a recipe for a family-size one. I substitute 1 tablespoon or so (guessing) of the flour for the pastry with cornflour (cornstarch) which gives a crisper pastry.

Custard Tart
Pastry:
2 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup self raising flour

Beat butter and sugar to a cream. Add egg and flour. Line a sandwich tin and bake. [A sandwich tin is about 20cm -8" - in diameter and very shallow. You use them for 2-3 layer cakes. Got the idea? A larger pie dish should do the job but the filling should be fairly deep.]

Custard:
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon plain flour mixed with a little milk
1 egg
vanilla.

Stir all ingredients over gentle heat until thick and smooth. While custard is hot, pour on pastry. Sprinkle with nutmeg or cinnamon.

You can make your own pastry. Choose from any of the following for best results:

Biscuit Pastry
2 tablespoons sugar
125g butter
1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
pinch salt
1 egg
water or milk

Rub the sugar and butter into the flour, add the salt, then mix with lightly beaten egg. Add a few drops of water or milk to make a fairly stiff dough. Suitable for pies, tarts etc.

Crisp Biscuit Pastry (my choice)
125g self raising flour
125g flour
pinch salt
60g custard powder
3 tablespoons sugar
180g butter or margarine
4 tablespoons milk or water

Sift dry ingredients into a bowl, rub in butter. Mix to a firm dough with milk or water. Knead lightly on a floured board, roll out to about 5mm thick and line pie-plate. Decorate edge by pinching the pastry together with finger and thumb or by pressing lightly with the end of a knife or fork. Place a round of greased paper in the base over the pastry and weigh down with dried peas or rice to keep the base flat. Bake in a hot oven 15-20 minutes. Remove paper and peas or rice before end of baking time to allow base to dry out.

Tartlet Pastry (good choice)
180g butter
125g sugar
2 eggs
250g plain flour
60g rice flour, or cornflour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Cream butter and sugar until white and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Fold in sifted dry ingredients. Chill overnight or for a few hours before using. Knead well and roll out.

For Tartlet Cases, use 2 sheets frozen shortcrust pastry (or make your own), cut into 6cm rounds and fit into patty pans. Makes about 20 cases. (Some cooks turn the patty tins upside down, and lay the pastry over the rounded bottoms, making it easier to remove the cooked tartlet cases. [Note: patty tins are a bit like muffin tins, but the compartments are much more shallow and more rounded. Patty cakes are American cupcakes, but I don't know what size cupcakes usually are. Sorry, I couldn't find a picture of a patty tin.]

More hints for the pastry:

FOR VERY CRISP PASTRY:
Squeeze a little lemon juice into ice cold water, add a tablespoon of powdered milk to the flour, and mix with the water.
OR
Add a teaspoon of white vinegar to the water when making pies or tarts.
OR
Add a dessertspoon of custard powder to the flour when making sweet pastry.

Use a metal pie dish, which conducts heat better than pottery or glass. If you must use glass, put the dish onto a metal baking tray for more even heat distribution.

Of course, you can cheat and buy frozen pastry tartlet cases. The ones we get here are smaller, about 5cm across, and come in packs of 12.

Custard Filling (enough for about 12 5cm tartlets)
300ml milk
1 teaspoon cornflour
sugar to taste
2 eggs
vanilla

Boil the milk. Mix the cornflour with a little cold milk, then add the whole to the boiling milk, stirring well. Stir in the sugar and vanilla and continue stirring until thickened. Beat the eggs, and stir them in slowly. Fill pastry cases with the mixture. Note: Do not prick pastry before baking. Glaze with egg white, then pour in custard mixture. A tablespoon of milk powder added to the ingredients will help prevent shrinkage.

It is de rigeur to sprinkle the tops of custard tarts with nutmeg. The cases should be filled with custard as high as it will go. When cooked, the custard should stand higher than the pastry, in a rounded dome.

As for storage: well, I don't know how Lionel gets away with it. I find that custard tarts only keep for a day or so (2 at most) before the pastry begins to go soft. No way would I keep mine outside the fridge - the custard would go off in no time in my climate! But I admit they are better eaten at room temp rather than cold, but that's a matter of personal preference I think. I have made lots of them (the smaller version) for parties, and they need to be stored in a single layer. I use a deep Tupperware cake container, with several wooden cylinders (from my kids' building block collection! about 10cm tall) standing between tartlets. On these I put another plate, giving me 2 layers of storage. If you have a cake-plate with removable tiers, obviously that would be less make-shift.

You might be able to find foil tartlet cases in your supermarket.

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