Tapioca Custard with Sweet or Sour Cherries

Name: Tapioca Custard with Sweet or Sour Cherries
Yield: Makes 6 Tarts
Ingredients: 6 fully baked tart shells made with Standard Tart Dough; ½ vanilla bean, split; 1 cup milk; ½ pint sweet or sour cherries, pitted and coarsely chopped, plus 6 cherries with stems intact, for garnish; ½ pint sweet or sour cherries, pitted and coarsely chopped, plus 6 cherries with stems intact, for garnish; 6 fully baked tart shells made with Standard Tart Dough; ½ pint sweet or sour cherries, pitted and coarsely chopped, plus 6 cherries with stems intact, for garnish; ½ cup granulated sugar; ⅓ cup Minute Tapioca; ½ cup heavy cream; 1 large egg yolk

Preparation info

Makes
6
Tarts

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Book of Tarts

By Maury Rubin

Published 1995

About

True to the tapioca pudding my mother made when I was young, I more or less took the recipe printed on a box of Minute Tapioca and adjusted it to my taste. Needless to say, the box doesn’t call for fresh cherries or a vanilla bean, but they’re a nice touch.

Ingredients

1 cup milk
½ vanilla bean, split
⅓ cup Minute Tapioca

Pastry
Dessert
Vegetarian
Pie

Method

Pour the milk into a medium saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk, along with the bean. Add the tapioca and sugar, and whisk to combine. Set the pan over medium heat and whisk gently until the milk comes to a simmer. Remove from the heat and set aside for 3 to 5 minutes to allow the tapioca to thicken.
Place the egg yolk in a medium bow