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Dessert
Custard fruit tarts are the kind of dessert you see at high-tea or at a fancy cafe. The way the fruit is laid delicately atop the creamy custard contained in a golden brown tart shell as it sits in the display is enough to make anyone's mouth water. With this recipe, we’ve created a dairy-free and simple version of this decadent dessert.
What is a custard?
Initially being used as a filling for tarts or flans, the custard of today dates all the way back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the word “crustade”—meaning a tart with a crust. After the popularity of fruit creams in the 16th century, custards slowly started being made into individual dishes rather than just fillings.
Custards can be found in a variety of desserts, such as tarts, creme brulees and cheesecakes. Custards are made from just blending eggs with milk or cream, achieving its thickened state by the coagulation of the egg proteins through gentle heating.
How to make sure your custard does not split or scramble
Now that you know what a custard is, it’s important to know that custards are a bit finicky. Custards need very few ingredients, which may lead you to believe that they are easy to make, but you'd be wrong. But no worry, we’re here with a few tips to avoid some of the common pitfalls that come with making custards.
Since a big part of custard requires eggs, this means that they have a high potential to scramble. If you add whisked eggs to a hot pan, they'll cook, resulting in something resembling scrambled eggs instead of a custard. We agree that scrambled eggs are great, but that’s not what we’re aiming for in this recipe. You can counter this by tempering your egg mixture. Tempering in relation to custards, refers to gradually adding two mixtures together—this means slowly adding your egg mixture to your custard in a steady stream, while constantly creating movement with your whisk. This allows you to control how your eggs cook and prevent them from scrambling.
In this recipe, we’re creating custard by boiling. But how exactly do you know when your custard has finished cooking? With boiled custards, you can tell when you start noticing a few large bubbles forming in the centre of your pot or basically when it’s just beginning to boil. It’s important to note that your bubbles should form at the centre of your pot instead of the sides. The littles bubbles at the edge of your pot don't count since they’re in more direct contact with the heat and aren't an accurate measure of when your custard is done. You should also make sure that once this happens, you immediately remove your custard from heat. Overboiling your custard will cause them to coagulate and take on a more eggy texture, as well as becoming less smooth and glossy. After removing from heat, you can also cover your custard with a cling wrap to avoid a skin forming while it cools
What are the best fruits to use as a topping?
If you're wondering about what the best fruit to top your tart with is, you’ll be glad to know that there are plenty of options. It’s recommended to use fruits that are sweet to add onto the subtle yet creamy flavour of the custard. Here are some fruits that we think work great with custard fruit tarts, but feel free to use your favourite fruits if you so desire to!
How to make a Custard Fruit Tart with BamNut Everyday Milk
Custards are typically made with milk or cream to give it that light creamy texture. In this easy-to-follow recipe, we’ve made a dairy-free fruit tart for everyone to enjoy without sacrificing any of the flavour. We replace regular cream/milk with our BamNut Milk Everyday. This plant-based milk made from Bambara groundnuts is creamy, versatile and has a subtle nutty flavour, perfect for a light creamy custard.
Note: This recipe makes one 10cm tart.
⅓ cup BamNut Milk (Everyday)
1 egg yolk
¼ tsp vanilla extract
25g sugar
5g cornstarch
5g butter
65g all-purpose flour
10ml water
40g butter
Fruits of choice
Combine flour, butter and water in a stand mixer until it forms a dough.
Roll out your dough until it’s roughly 3mm in thickness.
Put the dough into a 10cm mould, and trim the excess dough off the edges.
Line the dough with parchment paper and fill with baking beans or uncooked rice.
Bake for 10-15 minutes.
Remove baking beans and put your tart shell back in the oven until golden brown.
Add the BamNut Milk Everyday and vanilla extract to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
Once boiling, immediately remove from heat and set aside to infuse for 15 minutes.
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy.
To the same bowl, add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain.
Whisk in ¼ of the hot milk mixture until combined.
Mix in the remaining ¾ of the milk mixture.
Once combined, strain the mixture back into the same saucepan.
Let the mixture thicken over medium high heat, whisking constantly.
Once thickened, remove from heat and stir in your butter.
Allow the mixture to cool slightly, before covering with a plastic wrap, lightly pressing the plastic against the surface to prevent a skin from forming.
Let the custard chill for at least 2 hours or until ready to serve.
To serve, pour the custard into the pastry and garnish with fruits of your choice. Enjoy~
