Blackberry & Orange Custard Tarts

Last weekend I had one of those sweet tooth moments…..you know, gooey soft sweet custard, pastry that melts in your mouth and fresh summery fruits- sounds heathy right???

It was Sunday morning. Another hot, hot day predicted. Children and husband all outside playing before having to come inside for the day.  The house was quiet and the kitchen was all mine…..Bliss!

I raided the pantry to see what ingredients we had and set to task making these fruit tarts for a late morning tea snack. As you will see from the recipes below- they are incredibly easy to make and you can use whatever fruit that is in season or you have on hand, both fresh or preserved.

Blackberry & Orange Custard Tarts

Pastry-

1 1/3 cups plain flour

1 Tablespoon caster sugar

1/3 cup ground almonds

150g cold butter, chopped

1-2 Tablespoons cold icy water

Optional- 1 teaspoon of orange zest

Preheat oven to 180 deg celcius. Grease six shallow tart tins (preferably with loose removable bottoms!). Process flour, sugar, ground almonds, zest and butter in food processor until fine and crumbly. Add cold water slowly until  mixture just begins to stick together. Be careful not to over process.

Turn pastry onto  a lightly floured surface and gently knead together. If pastry is quite soft, wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Divide pastry into six equal pieces and roll out one at a time. Ease into tins, pressing down carefully so not to tear the pastry. Trim excess pastry off sides. I like to use a knife or skewer at this stage to prick the pastry and place in fridge or freezer for another 15 minutes which helps with the blind baking stage. 

Place tart tins on a baking tray and in oven for 10-15 minutes or until a lovely golden brown colour.

Remove from oven and allow to cool on a rack.

Thick Pastry Custard-

2 egg yolks

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 Tablespoon plain flour

2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

(optional- zest of one orange or remains from what you used for pastry)

Beat egg yolks and caster sugar together until pale, then stir in flour until smooth.

Place milk vanilla and zest in a saucepan and bring to boil. Whisk the hot milk into the egg mixture, then pour into a clean saucepan.

Place the custard over a low heat and stir constantly as the custard comes to the boil and thickens. Remove from heat. 

This custard can be made in advance and reheated gently over low heat when needed. Cover with cling wrap if not using immediately to stop a skin from forming.

Putting the tart together-

Pour some custard into the pastry tins. Now place your fruit of choice on top…. doesn't have to be blackberries! And you don't have to add the orange zest if you prefer just a plain pastry and vanilla custard. 

Now's the fun part……eat one, two, or a few…and enjoy!

Have you a favourite pastry that makes you 

weak at the knees????

Until next time, Kylie xxx