Sweet treat with a surprise ingredient
“If you like custard tarts, you will love this,” proclaims food writer Melissa Thompson.
“I first had the idea for it a few years ago, while drinking some Guinness punch and wondering if it would translate into dessert form. The answer was a resounding yes. The flavours work really well in a tart and you can adjust the intensity of the Guinness flavour by using slightly less or more. And if you don’t drink alcohol you can use 0% Guinness: it works, I’ve tried.”
Guinness punch pie Ingredients:
(Serves 8)
For the custard:
400ml Guinness
7 egg yolks (freeze the whites for another time)
405g can of condensed milk
250ml double cream
½tsp grated nutmeg, plus more to serve
½tsp ground cinnamon 1tsp vanilla extract
For the pastry:
125g unsalted butter, plus more for the tin
250g plain flour, plus more to dust
45g golden caster sugar
1 egg yolk
30ml water
Method:
1. In a saucepan, simmer the Guinness until it reduces by about two-thirds. Leave to cool.
2. Meanwhile make the pastry. Using your hands, rub the butter and flour together until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Mix in the sugar and egg yolk and then add the measured water a little bit at a time, until the dough comes together. Don’t knead any more, just wrap in cling film or greaseproof paper and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 160°C/fan 140°C/Gas Mark 3. Butter a 20-centimetre tart tin and remove the pastry from the fridge. Dust your worktop with flour and roll out the pastry into a circle roughly 28-centimetres in diameter. Coil the pastry around the rolling pin and uncoil over the tart tin. Carefully push the pastry into the corners of the tin and leave the edges rising above the edge. Prick the base of the tin with a fork all over, then line with greaseproof paper and baking beans or rice. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Take out the greaseproof paper and baking beans and bake for a further five minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
4. In a bowl, gently beat the egg yolks with the condensed milk, trying not to get too much air or too many bubbles into the mix. Stir in the double cream and reduced Guinness, then stir in the remaining ingredients.
5. Pour the custard into the pastry case and bake for 40–45 minutes; it should still have a wobble in the middle. Remove and leave to cool.
6. Grate extra nutmeg over the top and chill before slicing.
W Motherland by Melissa Thompson is published by Bloomsbury Publishing, priced £26. Photography by Patricia Niven.