Blueberry Lemon Custard Tart

Spring is now! It’s best to have something refreshing and fruity. Days ago I spot this blueberry lemon custard tart by Russell Brown through email from the Great British Chefs.  It looked lovely. Due to the so so experience of following the tart recipe from Dominic Chapman, I skipped this part from the chef but went back to a tart recipe by Laura Washburn I made years ago.  It’s less soggy and the texture is nicely flaky.  It is for 27cm tart.  But mine today is just 20cm.

Sweet Pastry           
200g flour
100g cold butter, cut into pieces
2 tsp caster sugar
1 pinch of salt

Mix the flour, sugar, butter and salt.

Add 3 Tbsp water and mix until the dough forms coarse crumbs; add 1 more Tbsp water if necessary.

Transfer the pastry to a sheet of baking parchment, pat into a ball and flatten to a disc. Wrap in the parchment and chill for 30-60 minutes.

Roll out the pastry on a floured work surface to a disc slightly larger than the tart tin. Carefully transfer the pastry to the prepared tin, patching any holes as you go and pressing gently into the sides.  Refrigerate until firm, 30-60 minutes.

Prick the pastry all over, line with baking parchment and baking beans. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and bake until just golden, 10-15 minutes more. Let the tart shell cool slightly before filling.

Other components of the tart are: blueberry compote, lemon custard and decorations with blueberry and lemon zest.

I took ready made blueberry marmalade from baking store Twinsco.

Half of the lemon custard recipe from Russell Brown was followed.

LEMON CUSTARD
55g of semi skimmed milk
160g of double cream
cinnamon, a pinch
Zest of 1 lemon (I did not reduce the portion)
3 large egg yolks
40g of caster sugar
1.7g of gelatine, soaked in cold water

 

To make the lemon custard, combine the milk and cream in a heavy-based pan, then add the cinnamon and lemon zest, grating the zest directly over the pan to catch all the lemon oil. Bring to a simmer, remove from the heat, then cover and allow to infuse for 30 minutes.  I let it for over an hour.

 

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until thick and pale. Reheat the cream mixture and gradually whisk into the yolks. Return to the pan and cook out, stirring constantly in a figure of eight motion until the custard starts to thicken and has reached 79°C (mine is around 60°C as it was thick enough, I thought). Remove from the heat.

Squeeze excess water from the gelatine and add to the custard, stirring to dissolve. Pass the custard through a fine sieve into a plastic container and press cling film directly onto the surface. Chill until needed.

 

To assemble the tart, spread a dessert spoon of blueberry compote into the tart shells. Whisk the lemon custard well and spread it on top of the blueberry marmalade.

 

 

Decorate with jumbo blueberries (125g), sprinkle lemon zest and icing sugar.