Need recipe for custardy tart thing

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I need help from the culinary crew! You delectable Dopers know who you are.

My dad has requested a blueberry tart for his Very Special Father’s Day treat this year. He wants many little ones, not one big tart. And he wants them to have a pastry crust with custard in it and blueberries on top. He doesn’t want the custard to be lemony or fruity, just kind of plain vanilla-ish.

I was just looking on a few recipe sites (epicurious, FoodNetwork . . .) and can’t seem to find a good recipe for a simple custard tart. They all have fruit blended in, or infusions of ginger, or are lightly brushed with essence of cranberry chutney (which all sounds good to me, but pop’s not an “infusion” kind of guy). And none of the ones I saw were for little tarts, just big ones so I don’t know how many little tarts one crust recipe should make.

Does anyone have a good crust and custard recipe? I’d be most grateful!

Oh, and if you know the recipe for my grandamother’s chocolate chip cookies, which were the most heavenly things on earth, that would be good too. She’s gone to the big kitchen in the sky and has taken it with her. :frowning: Everyone claims that she used the recipe on the back of the Tollhouse chips, but I flatly refuse to believe this. I’ve made them from that recipe countless times and they’re - almost - it, but not quite. Anyone have a spectacular but very basic chocolate chip cookie recipe that would make me the favored child?

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Hm! I know exactly the type of custard tart you’re looking for. Our Whole Foods Market bakery makes 'em and they are quite tasty. I don’t have a custard recipe, but it seems to me you could use one and omit the fruit or ginger - I’ve been modifying recipes for years - I almost never measure spices - I just put what looks about right. I haven’t done custard tarts, but it seems like the recipe for large one would most likely make 4 little ones - but I’m guestimating on that. I would expect FoodNetwork to be able to tell you the exchange, though.

I gotta say, back in the day when I baked cookies, I, too, used the recipe on the back of the bag, and unless they’ve changed it, in my opinion, (of course) it’s THE best recipe. If you can pinpoint how this recipe makes them different from your gran’s, you might be able to modify it. She may have added something, or just her ingredients were different than what you use. I know real vanilla extract, as opposed to the imitation, is just so much better and would affect flavor.

Good luck with your search. :slight_smile:

3

I like custard myself.

I have a great recipe but it’s at home. Nothing but eggs, scalded milk, sugar, pinch of salt, dash of vanilla. Very easy, I can’t believe I can’t remember the quantities now. Seems like 3 eggs, 2 cups milk, 1/4 cup of sugar, pinch salt, dash of vanilla.

Beat the eggs lightly and stir in the sugar and salt. Scald the milk and add the vanilla to it. Add just a tad to the egg mixture, tempering it, add the rest slowly. Now I would cook it in a water bath in a custard dish…you would want to put it in a pie shell.

I have a great pie crust recipe, it’s in the same book…basic ol’ pie crust, I just like to use frozen, butter-flavored Crisco and grate it thru a cheese grater. Keeps the Crisco from melting when you work the dough.

I’m sure you’ll get plenty of help before I have a chance to get to the cookbook.

4

Suisaidh, I think the Whole Foods kind of tart is what he’s looking for. I was thinking about just leaving stuff out, but I don’t want to end up with too little custard. And I’m thinking the same thing about the cookies. Maybe she just put something magical in the Tollhouse recipe. Opiates, I’m thinking. Man they were good. I can’t tell what the difference is because I haven’t had them since I was a kid. I suppose the quality of ingredients could have changed since the 70’s. Maybe they were saltier or more buttery. They were just . . . grandmotherier than my cookies. It’s weird, I can recall exactly how they taste and every so often the first bite of a cookie will give me a little deja-vu of hers, but not enough to be satisfying. Then the second bite taste like regular old cookie.

Duke of Rat, that sounds like a good, simple custard. I’m one of those dorks who measures stuff, I always go overboard with the vanilla if I’m left to my own devices. If you remember the exacts measurements, I’d love to have them!

5

I’m pretty certain it’s 1/2 tsp on the vanilla.

I’m leaving town right after I get off (4:00 CST) but I’ll be back with all the particulars by tonite.

And I highly recommend this custard…I’ll get the cooking time/temps and make sure the quantities are correct.

Make this for your self…I’ve mixed blueberry pie filling in it before, as well as raisins, Cointreau for a great orange flavor. Oh and if just plain, I love fresh ground nutmeg on the top (I even put a little in the milk while it’s scalding…I love nutmeg in this stuff!)

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Cookie Tip: Make the Tollhouse recipe and mix 1/2 t of instant coffee crystals in with the dry ingredients before combining with the wet ingredients.

Trust me on this - and none of that decaffienated stuff either. This is the only reason I keep instant coffee in my house.

Oh and another happy - add 1/2 c of toffee chips to the mix. MMMmmmm Cookies!

7

did you try allrecipes.com?

I ran a search there for “custard tart” and it came back with

one hit.
Looks very similar to the one already posted here.
this one recommends using frozen Puff Pastry as your crust.

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The kind of custard you’re looking for is known as pastry cream.

Here’s a basic recipe that will make 2 1/2 cups, which should fill several small tart shells.

2 large eggs
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cups half and half
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and cornstarch. Gradually add 1/4 cup of half-and-half, whisking until smooth and cornstarch is completely dissolved.

In a medium saucepan, mix together the remaining half-and-half, sugar, salt, and vanilla, and bring to a full boil. (If using the vanilla bean, whisk the mixture to release the vanilla seeds, then let steep for 20 minutes, then bring back to a boil) Whisk in a 1/4 cup of the hot mixture into the eggs, and then add the eggs in a slow stream while whisking the hot mixture. Keeping on a medium heat, whisk until the mixture just begins to boil. Strain hot mixture into a bowl (very necessary if you have the vanilla bean in there), beat in butter, cover with plastic wrap (to keep a skin from forming), and refrigerate until cool.

The kind of crust you’re looking for is known as Pate Sucree. This recipe will make about 6-8 tarts:

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel
1 cup (2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 large egg yolks, beaten to blend

Mix first 4 ingredients in large bowl. Add butter; rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add yolks; mix with fork until dough begins to clump together. Shape dough into 6-8 balls. Flatten balls into disks; wrap in plastic. Chill 30 minutes. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)

Roll out dough and fit into tart shells. Poke several times with a fork, cover with parchment paper, and fill with beans/rice/pie weights. Refrigerate again for about 30 minutes. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Bake tartlettes until golden brown.

Let the shells completely cool before filling with pastry cream.

When you top the tart with the berries, to make them look gorgeous and shiny, melt some apple or apricot jelly and brush it onto the berries. It also helps the berries stay in place, too.

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Dang, here I thought you were looking for a whore covered in puddin’.
Feh.

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Thanks everyone! I think I’m going to go with JavaMaven’s. This looks exactly right! And I’m definitely going to try the instant coffee crystals in the cookies. That sound gooood!
Shirley Ujest, I think you may have something there. That could probably catch on as a Father’s Day gift.

11

I guess being a pastry chef has paid off, in some small way. :smiley:

Glad to have been able to help, DeskMonkey.