Name: Custard tarts
Yield: For 12-14 small tarts or one 24 cm (9½ inch) tart
Cuisine: United Kingdom
Ingredients: 1 mace blade; 3 egg yolks; 1 fresh bay leaf; 100 g (3½ oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar; 250 g (9 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour; 25 g (1 oz) raw (demerara) sugar; butter, for greasing; 75 ml (2 ¼ fl oz) cream, with at least 40% fat; 250 ml (9 fl oz) full-cream milk; 1 egg; pinch of sea salt; 125 g (4½ oz) chilled butter, diced; grated nutmeg; 1 tbsp water; flour, for dusting

Preparation info

For
12-14
small tarts

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Oats in the North, Wheat from the South

By Regula Ysewijn

Published 2020

About

Custard tarts have been around since the Middle Ages. The earliest recipe can be found in the first English cookbook in the English language called The Forme of Cury, dated around 1390. In the past, Custard tarts were made with sturdy pastry to withstand the heat of wood-fired ovens. The pie dough was raised by hand, just like we do with the Pork pie. Nowadays, vanilla is added to Custard tarts, but