YQ Wholegrain egg custards
YQ wholegrain egg custard (Makes 12 individual tarts or one large one).
Also - use this pastry for just about any tart, quiche or pie.
For the pastry:
320g wholegrain population flour
30g honey
200g of salted butter diced into 1cm cubes and kept cold
44g Cold water
2g salt
For the custard:
90g whole milk
390g cream
65g sugar
1 whole egg
3 egg yolks
Grated nutmeg
You’ll also need a 10/11 cm pastry cutter, 12 piece non-stick muffin tin (or a large tart tin) and some parchment, plus baking beans
Make the pastry:
Mix the flour and salt
With cool hands, and working efficiently, rub the butter into the flour until it makes a breadcrumb like texture. Don’t overwork it, its ok to have visible butter in your pastry when it comes together (it will make a light flaky texture).
Add the honey and water and bring the mixture together in a ball, knead very lightly just until it comes together. Cover and chill for 10 minutes while you make the custard
Make the custard:
Put the milk and cream in a pan and bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat
Whisk the egg, egg yolk and sugar together in a bowl until completely combined, then pour over the hot liquid, whisking as you go. Set aside to cool.
Roll the pastry:
Roll the pastry and cut out into rounds of 10-11 cm, 2-3mm thick. Line a non-stick muffin tin (12 pieces) with the pastry rounds, pinching any folds together to make neat pastry cases. Re roll any pastry scraps. If you prefer, you can line a large quiche tin instead and make one big tart (cooking times may vary a little) Chill the pastry in the fridge while you preheat your oven to 190 deg c.
When the oven is up to temperature and your pastry is cold, line each of the pastry cases with a circle of baking parchment and place a few baking beans on top of each.
Bake:
Place the muffin tray on a larger baking tray and in the oven. Blind bake for 13-15 minutes, until the pastry deepens in colour then remove from the oven, carefully remove the baking paper and beans and return to the oven for a further 2-3 minutes until the bottoms of tart cases are opaque and baked through. Remove from the oven again, and turn your oven down to 120 deg c.
Give your custard a stir to make sure that any sugar that might have settled on the bottom is re-incorporated. Put the custard in a jug, so it is easy to fill the pastry cases.
Fill each of the cases carefully, as high to the top of the pastry as you dare. Sprinkle generously with nutmeg and return to the oven for 35 minutes. The custard is ready when you wobble the tray and you can see very limited movement in the centre… then you know it has set. If you have made one large tart, it may take slightly longer.
Leave to cool completely before carefully removing from the tin.
Enjoy your baking and very best wishes to all the population wheat baking pioneers, Kim and the team at Small Food Bakery.