D e l i s i o u c i t y

What do you do when you have a serious hankering for sweet things? Reach out for that bar of chocolate? A scoop of Ben and Jerry’s perhaps? I have a horrible tendency to go for really fatty rich things when it comes to satisfying my sweet tooth. Give me a ball of Gulab Jamun and I’m all set. The other day I was torn between a roll of ready-made puff pastry or heating up chocolate in a bain marie for a decadent chocolate cupcake. The only reasons why these Portuguese Custard Tarts won is because the recipe is so easy, and that it takes only slightly longer to bake than it is to prepare the ingredients. Also,… did I mention the puff pastry was ready-made?

The recipe comes from Not Quite Nigella who in turn adapted it from Bill Granger (Australian celebrity chef). The only things I’ll suggest to you is 1) to use pure vanilla beans scraped off from the pods (because nothing beats the awesome taste of it!) and 2) to constantly stir, scrape and watch over the custard whilst it is cooking.

Portuguese tarts

Ingredients

• 3 egg yolks (I prefer 2 egg yolks and 1 whole egg)
• 115g caster sugar
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 230ml Cream
• 170ml Milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 300g rolled puff pastry

Method
1. Lightly grease a 12-hole 80ml muffin tray.

2. Put the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour in a pan and whisk together. Gradually whisk in the cream and milk until smooth.

3. Place the pan over a medium heat and cook, stirring, until the mixture thickens and comes to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Transfer the custard to a bowl, cover the surface with cling film to prevent a skin forming and leave to cool.

4. Preheat the oven to 200C.

5. Cut the pastry dough sheet in half, put one half on top of the other and set aside for 5 minutes. Roll up the pastry tightly from the short end and cut the pastry log into 12 x 1cm rounds. Lay each pastry round on a lightly floured surface and use a rolling pin to roll out until each is 10cm in diameter.

6. Press the pastry rounds into the muffin tin. Spoon the cooled custard into the pastry cases and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the pastry and custard are golden. Leave the tarts in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cute, sweet and full-fat goodness packed in a bite. Sweet cravings? Done.