ALMOND MILK TARTLETS WITH EGG-FREE CUSTARD
Crostata con crema senza uova e latte
SERVES 8
FOR THE BASE
● Butter for greasing
● 250g wholemeal pastry flour, or an equal mix of plain flour and wholemeal pastry flour
● 80g caster sugar
● 60ml sunflower oil
● Grated zest of one unwaxed lemon
● Pinch of salt
● 60ml ice-cold water
FOR THE CUSTARD
● 50g cornflour
● 80g sugar
● 1 vanilla pod
● 500ml almond milk
TO DECORATE
● 400g strawberries
● Icing sugar, for dusting
● Edible flowers
You will need 8 × 10cm fluted tartlet tins
Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C/160°C Fan/ Gas 4 and grease the tartlet tins with a little butter
1. To make the pastry, place the flour, sugar, oil, grated lemon zest, and salt into a food processor, then blitz to coarse crumbs. Add the water and continue to blitz until a dough forms that sticks to the blades. Shape the dough into a small block, wrap in cling film, and leave to rest for 30 mins at room temperature.
2. To make the custard, place the cornflour in a bowl, add the sugar and the seeds from the vanilla pod. Slowly pour the almond milk into the bowl, mixing continuously with an electric whisk as you do so, until combined.
3. Transfer the mix to a saucepan and bring to a boil
over a low heat, stirring, then simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the cream is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and when you draw a finger through the custard, it doesn’t flow back immediately. The custard should not have a floury taste. Pour into a bowl and cover with cling film, ensuring the film is touching the surface of the custard, and leave to cool.
4. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie pastry to 3mm thick. Using a tartlet tin as a guide, cut out pastry disks slightly larger than the prepared tins. If necessary, re-roll any scraps to give enough disks. Press down firmly on the base and sides, then prick the base of the pastry with a fork. Using a sharp knife, trim away any excess that is overhanging the sides of the tartlet tin to neaten.
5 Line the pastry cases with greaseproof paper, fill with baking beans, and place in the lower part of the preheated oven for 20 minutes to blind bake. After 20 minutes, remove the baking beans and paper and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes, or until the pastry cases are golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly in the tins, then remove the pastry cases from the tin and leave to cool completely on a cooling rack.
6. Using a stick blender, blitz the custard until light and smooth, then pour into the tart cases.
7. Wash and hull the strawberries. If they are large cut them into slices, or leave whole if they are small, and arrange on top of the custard. Leave to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, then dust with icing sugar and decorate with some edible flowers before serving.