a busy but fun day today.
made this yummy tart to take to dinner at bruno's parents' place - i love love love nectarines. unfortunately, the nectarine pieces seemed to migrate around in the custard, ruining my perfect arrangement. no matter, it was still lovely.
in case you haven't guessed, i have a real sweet tooth. i bet my 'sweeties' category will soon be bulging with goodies, while other, more sensible categories will still be waiting in vain.
nectarine custard tart
very easy and quick!
- pastry to line a tart tin (i used bought pastry - küchenteig - because i didn't have time to make my own)
- 5 eggs
- 250 ml cream
- 1/4 cup castor sugar, or to taste
- nectarines, or other fruit, sliced thickly or quartered
- vanilla sugar to sprinkle on top
- egg yolk to glaze pastry, if you have a spare one lying around (i did, for some reason, but you can skip this if you don't)
- preheat oven to 180°c
- prepare fruit: you can use practically any fruit you have lying about: peach, apple, berry, rhubarb etc etc. altho perhaps steer clear of banana (cooked banana! yuck!)
- line tart tin with pastry ( i didn't bother to blind bake)
- beat the eggs with the cream, and add sugar to taste (about a quarter of a cup is good for me)
- pour eggy cream into tart tin
- arrange fruit in cream - this is where my nectarines floated away, possibly because the slices weren't thick enough. but oh well, i don't think anyone noticed as they were wolfing it down.
- sprinkle vanilla sugar over the top.
- brush pastry with egg yolk
- bake until the custard is blistered and golden (like a portugese custard tart, oh how i love those!) - about 1/2 an hour? i think. i was giving lola a bath so i didn't take much notice. is it too unscientific to say 'bake for the time it takes to give one baby a bath?)
- a tip on baking: when i don't blind bake i place the tart for the first 15 mins or so on the bottom, on baking tray, to cook the pastry on the bottom a bit better. then i move it higher up in the oven for the remainder of the time (still on the baking tray). i surmise that the baking tray holds the heat, and thus cooks the pastry better.
- in switzerland these types of fruit tarts are very popular, and are available all year round with seasonal fruits. sometimes they are made with unhulled almond meal thickening the filling - just sprinkle some ground almonds over the base before you pour in the custard and fruit. they are also usually not quite as rich - more likely to be made with milk than cream. but i think nectarines call for decadence, dont you?
- they call these tarts 'wähe', which i can never pronounce properly. i call them 'wahey!' instead : )
Sounds like a very good (and easy!) recipe. Gorgeous with nectarines (one of my fave fruits). I think I'll have to try it with the winter fruit on offer in Australia at the moment. I'm thinking pears with the almond meal might be nice?
Posted by: lucinda | June 02, 2004 at 11:42 AM