Custard Tart

Ingredients

• 1 egg yolk
• 250g plain flour
• 1 tbsp cold water
• 50g icing sugar
• ¼ tsp fine salt
• 125g unsalted butter, very cold and cubed
• 3 large egg yolks
• 25g cornflour
• 500ml whole milk, warmed
• 75g caster sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp ground nutmeg, plus extra for dusting
• Extra nutmeg, for grating over the baked tart

Method

1. Rub the cold cubed butter into the flour, icing sugar and salt with your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs, about 3-4 minutes. Add the egg yolk and cold water and bring together into a smooth disc — don't overwork it. Wrap and chill for 20 minutes until firm.
2. Heat the oven to 190°C fan/210°C/Gas 6. Roll the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 3mm thickness and line a 23cm tart tin, pressing it gently into the corners. Trim the edges and chill for 5 minutes.
3. Line the case with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Blind-bake for 12 minutes, then lift out the beans and parchment and bake for a further 8 minutes until the base looks dry and pale gold.
4. Drop the oven to 160°C fan/180°C/Gas 4. Warm the milk in a saucepan until steaming but not boiling. In a bowl, whisk the caster sugar, cornflour and egg yolks together until pale and thick, then pour the warm milk in slowly, whisking constantly so the yolks don't scramble.
5. Return the mixture to the pan and stir over a low heat for 3-4 minutes until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pull off the heat and stir through the vanilla and 1 tsp ground nutmeg.
6. Strain the custard through a fine sieve directly into the warm pastry case to catch any lumps, then smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the filling is set around the edge with a faint wobble in the centre.
7. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature so the custard sets properly — at least 2 hours. Just before slicing, grate over a generous flurry of fresh nutmeg.