Custard tart with poached rhubarb

Custard tart with poached rhubarb. Photograph: Harry Weir
Custard tart with poached rhubarb. Photograph: Harry Weir
Serves: 10
Course: Dessert
Cooking Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

  • FOR THE PASTRY:
  • 225g plain flour
  • Pinch salt
  • 150g unsalted butter, cubed
  • 25g icing sugar
  • 1 egg
  • FOR THE CUSTARD:
  • 12 egg yolks (240g yolks)
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 750ml cream
  • FOR THE RHUBARB:
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
  • Peeled zest of 1 orange
  • 4 sticks of rhubarb, cut into rough chunks or batons

1 For the pastry: Rub the flour, salt and butter together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively, you can do this in a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, or in a food processor.

2 Add the icing sugar and the egg, and as soon as the dough starts to come together, turn out on to the work surface and bring together into a ball. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 30 minutes.

3 Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan 160). Roll the chilled dough out into a large circle and line a 23cm loose-bottomed, non-stick fluted tart tin, leaving a little pastry hanging over the edge.

4 Prick the base of the pastry with a fork and place in the freezer for 20 minutes to chill completely.

5 Line the tart with a piece of parchment paper and bake blind by filling the tart with baking beans or rice and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the parchment and beans, and bake for a further two to three minutes, until golden and cooked through.

6 Patch up any gaps or holes by mixing some of the leftover raw pastry with egg and baking for a further two to three minutes. Trim the edges of the pastry. Reduce the oven temperature to 140 degrees (fan 120).

7 For the custard: heat the cream to simmering point in a medium saucepan.

8 Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together, and pour the hot cream on top, whisking all the time. Strain the custard through a sieve into a large jug.

9 Place the baked tart case on the bottom shelf of the oven. Slowly pour in the custard, and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the edges of the tart are set but there is a slight wobble in the centre. Leave to cool completely at room temperature.

10 For the rhubarb: place the sugar, vanilla pod and seeds, and orange peel into a saucepan with 400ml water. Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Reduce to a simmer, add the rhubarb pieces and cook on a gentle heat for four to five minutes, until just tender. Remove from the heat and leave the rhubarb to cool completely in the syrup before serving.

Aoife Noonan

Aoife Noonan

Aoife Noonan is a pastry chef and culinary consultant. She writes a weekly baking column for the Irish Times Magazine