EASY EATING

In Lisbon: Recipes from the heart of Portugal, Rebecca Seal showcases her favourite culinary discoveries

Custard tarts

MAKES: 24 Ingredients PASTRY: 275g plain flour, plus more to dust; ¼ tsp fine salt; 125–175ml cold water; 200g unsalted butter, beaten until soft, but not melted

CUSTARD FILLING: 250g caster sugar; 150ml water; 600ml whole milk; 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways; ½ cinnamon stick; pared rind of ½ unwaxed lemon, cut into long strips; 12 egg yolks; icing sugar and ground cinnamon, to serve

Method

Using a spoon and then your hands, mix together the flour, salt and as much cold water as necessary in a bowl to make a soft, light dough. As soon as it starts to come together, turn it out of the bowl and on to a floured work surface. Press then roll it out to form a 15cm square. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Roll out the chilled pastry to form a rough 45cm square, using lots of flour to prevent it sticking to the surface or the rolling pin. Trim to form a neat square.

Divide the soft butter into three roughly equal quantities. If it is looking glossy or beginning to melt, pause here and chill it and the pastry for 10 minutes.

Use a palette knife or spatula to spread one-third of the butter over the left-hand twothirds of the pastry, leaving a 3cm gap all around the edge.

Working quickly, fold the unbuttered right-hand third over the buttered middle third. Working from the top down, pat the pastry to remove any air bubbles. Touch the pastry as little as possible to stop it getting too warm.

Next, fold the buttered lefthand third over too, so that it covers the newly-visible unbuttered pastry. You should have a long rectangle of pastry and no visible butter. Pat briefly to remove any bubbles.

At this stage the butter within the pastry layers can become a bit soft, especially on a hot day. If this happens, chill the dough for 10 minutes to allow the butter to firm up.

Turn the pastry rectangle so one of the long sides is facing you. Gently roll it out to form a square again, being careful not to burst the layers of butter when you reach the edges of the pastry.

Repeat the spreading-folding process with the second third of the butter, using lots of flour on the work surface and rolling pin again. Chill again if necessary.

To use the final third of the butter, roll out the pastry into a rectangle roughly 45cm by 55cm, using lots of flour under the pastry and on the rolling pin.

Working quickly, spread the remaining butter all over the pastry, leaving a 3cm gap around the edge. Spread it as thinly as you can, but be gentle as the pastry will be fragile and prone to tearing.

Starting with a shorter edge, roll the pastry into a tight swiss roll or log shape, brushing off excess flour as you go.

Trim the ends so the edges are even, cut the log in half, wrap the two halves in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least three hours or overnight. If using half the pastry, to make 12 tarts, remember to make half the quantity of custard. To make the custard: Place the sugar and water in a saucepan and heat until the mixture reaches 105C on a pan thermometer. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a separate pan, heat the milk until just below boiling point, then add the vanilla pod, cinnamon stick and lemon rind. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 5 minutes or so. Whisk the egg yolks in a large heavy bowl until smooth and creamy.

Remove the vanilla pod, cinnamon and lemon rind from the milk. Skim off any skin that has formed. Add a tablespoon of the hot milk to the egg yolks and whisk vigorously.

Continue adding the hot milk, a tablespoon at a time, adding it slowly but whisking quickly so that the eggs don’t cook and scramble. After adding 6–7 tablespoons of milk, slowly pour the remaining hot milk into the bowl, continually beating the mixture.

Finally, add the sugar syrup in a steady stream, whisking continuously.

Quickly

wash the milk pan, then tip the custard mixture back into it.

Set the pan over the lowest possible heat and cook the custard very, very gently, stirring continuously and running a spatula around the bottom and edges of the pan every now and then to make sure all the liquid is moving all the time.

After 8–25 minutes of gentle cooking, depending on your pan, the mixture should begin to thicken. If you have a pan thermometer, thickening will occur at about 75C. Don’t let it get hotter than 80C as the custard may split.

As soon as the custard has thickened to the consistency of double cream, remove it from the heat and pour into a clean, heatproof bowl. Cover the surface with cling film to prevent a skin forming, and set aside. An hour before you want to cook the tarts, preheat your oven to its maximum temperature, ideally 275C. If you have a pizza stone, place it on the top shelf of the oven, or use a baking tray. Place a second pizza stone, or another baking tray, on the middle shelf of the oven. Let them both get really hot. This is the best way to replicate the fierce heat of bakery ovens and will allow the tarts to cook quickly with crispy bases and (hopefully) to caramelise on top. Leave just enough space between the stones or trays for the tarts.

Next, grease the holes of a shallow 12-hole tart tin (of the sort you’d make jam tarts in, rather than muffins). Remove one of the pastry logs from the fridge and leave it for about 10 minutes until it becomes pliable. Slice it into 12 discs and place each one, cut side down, into the tin. Have ready a cup of cold water. Dip your thumbs into the water and gently press the dough downwards and outwards, pushing it into the edges of the tin and upwards and outwards so it fans out about 1cm above the edge of the tin. Try not to pinch these protruding edges though – if you can leave them a little thicker, they will frill out during cooking.

The pastry will be about 2mm thick at this point. Press the pastry edges slightly outwards, so that they don’t collapse inwards as they cook. They should be in the shape of an upturned hat with a brim.

Pour the custard into each tart case, filling them generously and leaving about 7.5mm of the pastry rim showing. Carefully slide the tray into the very hot oven.

Bake the tarts for 10–16 minutes, possibly slightly longer if your oven can’t reach very high temperatures, checking them every few minutes after the first 10 minutes.

The pastry edges may shrink down slightly and may appear to burn a little, but hold your nerve: slightly burnt bitterness is part of their characteristic flavour and if you remove them from the oven too soon, the custard won’t caramelise on top.

When ready, the tart pastry will be brown and occasionally even slightly charred, with a few brown spots on top of the custard. Remove and leave the tarts to cool in the tin. Clean the tin and repeat with the second half of the pastry, if using.

Eat warm, dusted with a little icing sugar and ground cinnamon.

This is an edited extract from Lisbon by Rebecca Seal, published by Hardie Grant Books, $45, and is available in stores nationally. Photographer: Steven Joyce.