
Fold the outer fourths into the center, then fold in half like a book and roll out again. Repeat twice (folding like a letter, then rolling into a square), refrigerating the dough as needed if it becomes too soft. Roll out the folded dough into a large square again. Fold in the outer thirds over the center third, like a letter. Roll out the folded dough into an 11-inch square and mark it into thirds. Fold the sides of the “water dough” over the “oil dough” to enclose completely. Place the “oil dough” square on top and turn it so that it looks like a diamond. Unwrap the “water dough” and roll out into an 11-inch square on a lightly floured surface. Transfer the “water dough” to a piece of plastic wrap wrap in the plastic and refrigerate 20 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the egg, water and remaining 3/4 cup flour in a separate bowl, then knead with your hands until the dough comes together, adding more flour as needed if the dough is too sticky. Transfer the “oil dough” to a piece of plastic wrap and pat into a 7 1/2-inch square wrap in the plastic and refrigerate 20 minutes. Stir it in a little at a time and have a little taste as you go until the flavour is just right.Make the puff pastry: Cut the butter into 3/4 cup flour in a medium bowl with a fork, then knead with your hands until the dough comes together. If you have any pimms to hand this tastes delicious mixed in with the custard just before you fill the tart.
#Mini custard tart recipe Patch
You’ll actually need to make some small holes in the pastry to let out any air while it’s cooking and if it’s a little bigger you can always patch it up with a little leftover pastry. The clingfilm helps to hold it together so that it makes it into the tin in one piece.ĭon’t worry if you make a hole (unless it’s huge in which case screw it up and roll it out again). I peel off the top layer of cling film and the lift the pastry up still on the bottom sheet and carefully flip it over into the tart tin. When I’m making tarts like this I tend to roll out the pastry one tart at a time, as it’s thin it can be easy to poke a hole in it while you’re transferring it to the tin. The cling film then peels off easily leaving you with perfectly flat pastry. If it starts doing this I simply put it between two sheets of clingfilm and roll on top of that. I don’t know about you but I tend to find that my pastry has a horrible habit of sticking to the rolling pin. I’ve mentioned it before in my post about mince pies, but it’s even more useful here as the pastry needs to be thin otherwise it’ll overwhelm the flavour of the custard and berries. I just hope my neighbours aren’t watching out of the window or they’ll think I’m a little crazy.Ī little trick to make rolling out pastry a bit easierīefore I get on with the recipe there’s a little tip I want to share to help making these tarts a little easier. Next time I’ll have to wait for a dry, still day and try heading outside. This requires a much faster shutter speed but we didn’t really have enough light to speed it up any more.

I was pretty pleased with my first attempt although I’d like to get the icing sugar more defined in future.

When the opportunity to employ a hand model shows up, I make sure to make the most of it!Īnother shot I’ve been eager to try for a while is sprinkling icing sugar. I absolutely love “action” shots with people cooking but I don’t often try them as I’m normally photographing alone (by alone I mean with a two year old and four year old under my feet). But this blueberry tart sprinkled with icing sugar was a really close contender… My favourite pictureįor the main picture for this post, I most liked the strawberry one at the top as it shows a whole range of fruits that can be used to fill the tarts. If in fact you don’t want to go through all of my pretty pictures then you can always skip straight to the recipe and get cooking now (although if you want an extra tip for rolling out pastry more easily or a grown-up twist for the recipe then make sure you keep on reading).
#Mini custard tart recipe full
I should probably figure out to grow them in my garden and save myself a fortune, but sadly I’m pretty much the least green figured person you could meet.Īs well as my berry addiction I also seem to have developed somewhat of a food photography addiction, especially when it comes to the summer berries and I think I may have got a bit carried away with this one. So I have decided today’s post is going to be full of pretty pictures of summer tarts as I can’t narrow them down to my favourite few. As soon as I finish one recipe, I’m off to stock up on more for the next one. I suspect I’ve actually developed a bit of a summer fruit addiction. Summer berry and custard tarts – crispy pastry filled with creamy vanilla custard and topped with fresh, juicy berries.
