Custard Tart
OK, so the barbecue competition is this weekend. After a bloody coup, MANT is now the leader of the Gastroteers for this foray. MANT has busted me down to puddings-bitch - a role that I'm not sure lends itself to my unique talents. MANT is showing his customary indecisiveness by threatening to remove my pudding privileges unless I show some serious dessert-based chops.
Our baking equipment is minimal - it's basically "stick it in the smoker, and hope for the best". A smoker won't get up to the proper heat of an oven, so I figured anything delicate and crispy is probably out - but what about a low-and-slow cooking pudding? Meringue's out because I can't be buggered to whisk that much without an electric whisk, but maybe custard is a goer. So I thought a custard tart might be a good one.
This pudding has already been named "Sludge Pudding" by Mussolini MANT. Nonetheless, here goes.
I made a pastry using the 3-2-1 method in Ratio (3 parts flour, 2 parts fat, 1 part water) I actually added some lemon juice instead of water, and quite a bit of sugar. I think if I did it again, I'd also use some ground almonds instead of some of the flour.
So, we roll it out and cut a large circle out.
I wish I'd made this hole a bit bigger. Oh well, on we go. I also did some smaller pastry cases as well. Now we blind bake them using baking paper and lentils to weigh the pastry down:
Bake those in a medium oven for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, we make the custard. I would normally follow Liz Upton's Recipe for Custard but I didn't have any Bird's Custard Powder OR cornflour OR EVEN any double cream. Hence skimmed milk had to do. I infused the milk with vanilla and bay leaves, and added sugar (mental note, add more sugar next time).
Now we just pour the custard into the baked pastry moulds, grate some nutmeg over them:
And stick them in a low oven for, ooh, half an hour? I'm not sure.
Probably should have been a touch lower - the surface of the custard is a little too dark. But they were OK, basically.
Tasting notes? Well, I really like custard tarts. My good lady wife was a bit less enthusiastic. "A bit too eggy." "Needs more sugar." and "perhaps you could put some raspberries in the custard" were all phrases that were used.
I actually like the idea of putting some fruit in the custard, I think it could be worth a shot.
So, this is my proposal for the Gastroteers pudding entry.
Comments
Mississippi Sludge Pie
While the judges had a sweet tooth last year, I don't think you'll need more sugar if you use cream or full-fat milk/cream to make the custard. What was your ratio of eggs to milk? Still, there's plenty of time to make batches of custard over the weekend.
Fruit would be good though we can debate whether it should go in the custard or some other form. I think we need something to jazz up the presentation - melted chocolate?
Mistaken Identity
You are mistaken Charlie, Pudding Bitch is actually an honourary title, and the highest honour you can achieve at a BBQ competition. We all wish we could be in charge of pudding but alas you won that honour this year.
A few points to consider - there is electricity there and i'll have my handblender, although i think thats kind of cheating, but it will be there and it can whisk too if you need it.
The pudding looks good, and although it seems you had none of the right ingredients you did well, although Miranda said it didn't taste too good. Just cooking it in a smoker and an over is a little different.
Oh well, i guess the proof will be in the pudding?
Meringue
Well, if you've got a blender, we can do some little meringues as accompaniments...