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Blackberry and bay custard tart
Serves: 12
Prep time: 40 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Kris Kirkham
Blackberry and bay custard tart
The floral aroma of bay adds a real elegance to this classic custard tart, which works perfectly with seasonal blackberries
Serves: 12
Prep time: 40 minsTotal time:
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
505Kcal
Fat
32gr
Saturates
18gr
Carbs
46gr
Sugars
26gr
Fibre
3gr
Protein
7gr
Salt
0.3gr
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst ’s recipes
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst ’s recipes
Ingredients
For the pastry case
- 300g plain flour
- 175g salted butter, cubed
- 75g icing sugar
- 2 large egg yolks
For the filling
- 450g blackberries
- 200g golden caster sugar
- 2 tsp cornflour
- 300ml double cream
- 300ml whole milk
- 4 bay leaves
- 1 vanilla pod, split
- 9 large egg yolks
- 1⁄4 tsp grated nutmeg, plus extra to serve
Step by step
Get ahead
The tart can be made a day in advance and keeps in the fridge for up to 2 days.
- For the pastry, blitz the flour and butter in a food processor until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the icing sugar; pulse to combine. Add the yolks and 1 tablespoon of cold water and pulse until the mixture comes together. Add a little more water if the mixture is dry. Shape into a disc, wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Meanwhile, put 300g of the blackberries in a saucepan with half of the sugar and the cornflour. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes until the fruit is thick and sticky. Blitz with a stick blender, then pass through a sieve. The mixture should be very jammy, but return to the pan and continue to cook for a further few minutes if it’s still quite runny. Cool, then chill.
- Lightly dust your worksurface with flour; roll out the pastry to 3mm thick. Line a 25cm loose-based tart tin, leaving any excess pastry hanging over the sides. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes. Line with crumpled baking paper; fill with baking beans. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the beans and paper; return to the oven for 5 minutes, or until the pastry has set. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 150°C, fan 130°C, gas 2. Leave to cool then trim the edges.
- For the custard, put the cream, milk and bay leaves in a pan. Scrape out the seeds from the vanilla pod and add both the seeds and pod to the pan. Heat to boiling point; remove from the heat and leave to infuse for at least 30 minutes.
- Spread the blackberry jam out in the cooled tart case; place in the freezer while you finish the custard. Remove the vanilla pod and bay leaves from the cream and heat again until it just starts to steam. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks, remaining sugar and nutmeg. Slowly pour in the hot cream, whisking until smooth. Strain into a jug.
- Carefully pour the custard in around the edges of the tart case, to avoid unsettling the jam. Bake for 1 hour, or until the custard is set with a slight wobble. Remove from the oven; cool.
- To serve, top with the remaining blackberries and dust with a little icing sugar and nutmeg.