Custard Tart (with poached rhubarb)

                                         Custard Tart served with poached rhubarb


Custard tart has to be one of life's most simple pleasures. A very ancent and traditional British recipe. I'm sure most of us Brits can remember visiting the local bakery and taking home the small  tarts surrounded with tin foil for a real treat.  This tart is almost the same but the pastry is so much better..short, crisp & full of flavour.

The very basic ingredients include free range eggs, sugar, cream & lots of freshly grated nutmeg fill the short biscuity pastry base.  Have a slice with your afternoon tea or serve up with rhubarb for a delightful dessert... it's a match made in heaven.  The rhubarb is totally optional, this was the first of this year's crop from the garden.  Pick it while it's young and tender and it will take the absolute minimum of cooking. 

This recipe will serve 8 or 6 if you're greedy like me

You will need a deep 9"/ 23cm loose bottom flan/quiche tin, greased with melted butter

If you prefer to measure your ingredients please click this link Easy Conversion Chart 

* All of my recipes use large eggs 


FOR THE SWEET PASTRY CASE (paté sucree)

1 heaped tsp finely grated lemon zest
7oz/225gms plain (all purpose) flour
5oz/150gms butter at room temperature
2½oz/75gms caster (superfine) sugar
1 whole egg
1 egg yolk

For the custard filling

16floz/500ml whipping cream
2½oz/75gms caster (superfine sugar)
the yolks of 9 eggs (the whites can be frozen and used for meringues)
around 2tsp of freshly grated nutmeg

Method:-

to make the pastry case

Sift the flour into a large bowl
Rub in the butter until the fine 'breadcrumbs' stage
mix in the sugar and lemon zest ...make a well in the centre of the bowl
beat the whole egg and the yolk together
Add this to the centre of the bowl
Lightly mix into the other ingredients to form a ball.
Flatten out slightly and cover with cling film
refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

when chilled roll out as thinly as you can on a floured surface to fit the size of the flan tin with a little overlap.
be careful not too break the pastry or the custard filling could seep out

refrigerate again for around 15 mins and turn on the oven to 180c/350f gas 4

line the pastry case with a piece of crumpled baking parchment and fill with baking beans


place in the centre of the oven and bake for around 10-15mins 
remove the paper & beans
check to make sure that no cracks or holes have appeared.  If they have carefully patch up with any left over pastry trimmings 
Neatly trim the overhang of the pastry case and pop back in the oven for just a few minutes until the base is cooked through.
Leave in the flan/quiche tin
It's now ready to be filled.

turn to oven down to 120c/250f/½Gas

TO MAKE THE CUSTARD

Place the cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
Beat the egg yolks & sugar together in a large bowl
Slowly add the boiling cream to the egg yolk mixture stirring all the time
Place into a pouring jug
Place the flan tin on a baking tray and carefully fill with the custard
Grate over lots & lots of nutmeg
Bake in the centre of the oven for around 30 minutes
The custard filling should still have a slight wobble in the centre it will continue to cook whilst cooling. 
Place on a cooling tray
When cold carefully remove from the flan tin 
It's now ready to serve

For the Rhubarb 

 4 young fresh stalks of rhubarb
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsps water
1 little red food colouring (optional)

cut the stalks across into half then into quarters 
cut each quarter into half lengthwise
then cut each half into 2 or 3 slices...again lengthwise  ( as in the photograph)
place everything into a saucepan
Bring to the boil...simmer for 2 minutes exactly
place a tight fitting lid on the pan and let the rhubarb steam for around 5 minutes
It should be cooked but still slightly firm
you can add a tiny drop red food colouring if you want your rhubarb to be nice & pink 
Add more sugar if required

Leave to cool



Assemble simply as I have done and serve

    
    

Dor's Rhubarb & Ginger Cheesecake

Rhubarb & Ginger has to be one of my favourite combinations so it wasn't too hard to figure out how to use up some of the glut of rhubarb that I had in the garden. Along with that I found 3 tubs of Philly in the fridge, I'm always tempted to buy too much when there's a supermarket offer going.

I usually make this baked Cheesecake with a digestive (Graham Cracker) base but I used Ginger Nuts (ginger cookies ) to add to the ginger flavours in the topping.

The recipe will make around 12 portions but just 6 of us managed to polish this one off in one sitting. Okay we're just damn greedy but we don't eat it every day.

This is a plain cheesecake that will work so well with many other toppings.  Try mixing sliced strawberries with a little icing (confectioners sugar)  They will get a lovely sheen on them and top the cheesecake with them... you can do the same with most berries.  Or try adding lemon zest and sultanas to the cheesecake mixture to make a wonderful old fashioned dessert.

Here's the RECIPE :-

You will need a 9/10" loose bottomed Springform tin, greased then lined with parchment paper to come about an inch or so above the tin.

If you prefer to use cups & spoons for measuring then here's some easy Conversion Charts

For the base

a 300g packet of Ginger nuts / ginger cookies crushed to a fine crumb
100g unsalted butter melted
3 tbsp.sugar

Mix well together, press into the bottom of the tin and refrigerate to set it (about 40 minutes)

For the Filling

750 gms of Philly or another good quality whipped cream cheese
300ml of sour cream or double cream if you can't get it
6 eggs separated
150g caster sugar
the zest of 1 lemon
1 dessertspoon of vanilla extract
2 tbsp. of corn flour (corn starch)
a sprinkle of sea salt ( about ½ tsp)

Using a hand whisk, place the egg whites in a bowl and whip until stiff but not dry
in another bowl place everything else and using the same whisk beat until smooth.
Fold in the egg whites making sure there's no white bits of egg white to be seen
Place the batter over the biscuit base to about 1" below the top of the tin
There may be a little too much batter so don't overfill your tins just pour it into a dish and bake later (cooks treat)

Place in the centre of a pre-heated oven 170c/325f/gas 3 for around 1& 10 mins hour. Don't be tempted to open the door, keep a keen eye on it though in case it browns too quickly. Turn the oven off and leave cheesecake in the oven for a least a couple of hours to really set up. There should be no wobble at all at this stage.
 Place on a wire rack to cool completely and leave in the baking tin until you are ready to serve it.
I left mine in the fridge well wrapped overnight and it was perfect the following day.

For the Rhubarb topping

1lb young rhubarb stalks
150g or so of caster sugar
around 2 level tsps of cornflour or arrowroot to thicken the juices
1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
around 4 or 5 pieces of crystallised ginger chopped
or 1 tsp of ginger powder added to the rhubarb before cooking

Chop around 1lb/500g washed rhubarb into about 1½"/ 3cm pieces and place in a non metallic oven dish with around 150g of caster sugar (according how sharp you like your rhubarb) and 1 tbsp of water.
Cover with foil and bake at 180c/350f/gas4 for around 30 minutes or until soft
Baked this way the rhubarb holds it's shape.
Place the rhubarb in a sieve and collect the juices. You'll find that it will keep making a little more as it sits.
Place the juices in a pan and add a little slaked corn flour/starch/arrowroot and the redcurrant jelly and cook until it starts to thicken. It should be of a thickened but still pourable consistency

To assemble

remove the cheesecake carefully from the tin and remove the parchment paper.
Place on it's serving plate
Arrange the rhubarb over the top.
Scatter over the chopped ginger
Carefully spoon over the slightly cooled thickened juices and serve.