Maids of honour
Various legends surround the origins of these delicious little custard tarts, all of which involve one of history’s biggest food lovers: Henry VIII.
According to one story, Henry discovered the recipe locked away in a chest at Hampton Court Palace, and named the tarts after his mistress Anne Boleyn, who was then a maid of his wife, Catherine of Aragon.
Another suggests that he found Anne and her ladies-in-waiting eating the tarts, and confiscated the recipe when he discovered how delicious they were.
Records from 1526 show that Henry loved custard tarts so much that he would even devour them on designated fast days, as part of feasts including lobster, porpoise and seal.
INGREDIENTS
375g puff pastry 50g butter, softened 50g caster sugar 1 egg, beaten 1 tbsp plain flour 50g ground almonds ½ tsp grated nutmeg 2 lemons, zest only 100g curd cheese
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180ºC (gas mark 4).
Roll the pastry out thinly, then stamp out a dozen 9cm rounds using a biscuit cutter. Place in a non-stick bun tray. Keep this in the fridge while you make the filling.
To make the filling, cream together the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg, flour, ground almonds, nutmeg (or ground mace) and lemon zest. Stir in the curd cheese, being careful not to overwork the mixture, as it can split.
Spoon the mixture into the pastry cases and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until risen and lightly browned on top.
Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely before serving.
VERDICT
“A light and creamy Tudor treat”
Difficulty: 2/10 Time: 45 mins
Recipe sourced from bbc.com/food