Michelle Darmody: How to make homemade custard and Portuguese-inspired custard and nutmeg tarts 

Custard and nutmeg tarts

Who is not keen on delicious custard?

I have a friend who cannot abide custard in any form.

I just can’t understand the aversion, I find it delicious in so many ways.

The simplest vanilla custard poured, slightly warm, over stewed apple or a berry crumble is both comforting and delightful.

For a more refined, lighter touch, there is a creme anglaise or crème pâtissière, and for robust full flavour there is a creme brulée, topped with snappy sugar
crackling.

The first recipe is a slight twist on the original, if you prefer you can omit the ginger and keep to vanilla. I would use one whole vanilla pod, cut in half lengthwise with the seeds scraped out and added to the milk.

The pod is left in the saucepan as you warm the milk with the cream. The black pod is then discarded but the flavour and tiny black seeds remain.

There are many variations on a custard tart: in Hong Kong bakeries they tend to have a shortcrust base and are called an egg tart, whereas, in France, large pastry cases are filled with a rich custard and then sliced into perfect triangular wedges.

The tarts included here are a little nearer to the Portuguese version with puff pastry as the base. It is important to roll the sheet of pastry very tightly to get a nice smooth disc for the tart casing.