pear and custard tarts

blast from the past... (how cliche)


we used to move a lot when i was younger, as my dad was in the uniformed department and so where he was posted, that is where we would be...i hang out with my dad most of the time ,as i am extremely close to my dad still, even at the age of 30! when i was about six or seven years old, my dad used to take me to this coffee shop called 'YAT SUN' and i dare say that was my first exposure of greediness (how greedy can one be at that age? trust me, when you hang out with your dad, you will get anything and everything he can give you!) when it came to bakery related items, there was the butter cake, individually wrapped in plastic, some buns which i can't recall what they were and of course 'bake well tarts' and egg tarts..

how lovely they were...


my mother, a dental nurse at that time, (well that was her only occupation until she opted for early retirement) was a wonderful cook, and i must say, she had taught me and let me be useful in the kitchen, and until today, i just love being in the kitchen...i wrecked many of her precious pyrex bowls and what nots, played with flour pretending it was icing ( more on that later) and etc... she , would spoil me too...i would just point out which things i would like for her to bake ( i will feature all this later in the blog) and she would try her level best to make it as perfect as it is in the picture of the book..hehehehe....

at present...

so maybe that's why i love to bake..unlike my lucky baking peers in the west, the weather here is so hot and humid that when i want to make tart or any pastry, i have to do it ( well, most of the time) at night...

well the other day, i just thought the flaky , crusty and buttery pastry crust, and the creaminess of the custard..yumm...had some pears in hand so i was like, why don't i make some custard tarts!

another thing, fruits seems to oxidise even faster when its extremely hot! so forgive my tarnished pie tops, but trust me they were good!




Pastry


you could use store bought pastry, but i made these the same day ( just remember to rest the pastry before rolling ;-) )

this recipe is adapted from the Australian Women's Weekly site for the 'treacle tart' but i just used the base (http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/ARTICLE.aspx?id=104707)


Ingredients:

2 cups plain flour
125g cold butter, chopped
¼ cup icing sugar
pinch salt
1 egg yolk
2 tbs cold water

Method:

1. Put flour, salt and sugar in a bowl.
2. Rub in butter with fork or fingers or pastry cutter.
3. Lightly whisk egg yolk with the water.
4. Make a well in the bowl of the dry ingredients.
5. Add the yolk mixture, just enough for the dry to combine in a mass. DO NOT OVER KNEAD.
6.Place the mass in a plastic bag, seal and let it rest in the fridge for at least 45 minutes or until use.
7. After the hour has passed, roll the pastry into desired thickness and place into moulds or tart tins.
8.Blind bake for 15 minutes at 160 C.
9.Cool on wire rack and make custard.
10.Makes 24-36 tarts, depending on tin size

Custard Filling

Make your favourite custard filling. You could also use boxed pudding mix. Follow package intructions.

Poached Pears

3 Bartlett pears ( not skinned, diced coarsely)
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon juice

Method:

1. Add sugar and water to pan.
2. Boil until slightly reduced
3. Add pears, lemon juice and extract
4. Drain

Glaze:


Further reduce the pear syrup. Add 2 tbs apricot jam.


Assembly:

1. Pour custard into pie shells.
2. Top with fruit.
3. Glaze.