Custard tarts or flans pâtissier are a baked
pastry
Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" sugges ...
consisting of an outer
pastry
Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" sugges ...
crust filled with
egg
An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...
custard.
History
The development of custard is so intimately connected with the custard tart or pie that the word itself comes from Anglo-Norman (unattested), meaning a kind of pie. It is derived from Anglo-Norman ''crust'' (> English ''crust'') corresponding to French '. It is related to the 18th-century French term , probably borrowed from the Italian ' (already mentioned 13th century), derived from ''crosta'' (' in French), more probably than the Occitan . Some other names for varieties of custard tarts in the Middle Ages were ''doucettes'' and ''darioles''. In 1399, the coronation banquet prepared for
Henry IV included "doucettys".
Medieval recipes generally included a shortcrust and puff pastry case filled with a mixture of cream, milk, or broth, with eggs, sweeteners such as sugar or honey, and sometimes spices. Recipes existed as early as the fourteenth century that would still be recognisable as custard tarts today. Tarts could also be prepared with
almond milk
Almond milk is a plant-based milk with a watery texture and nutty flavor manufactured from almonds, although some types or brands are flavored in imitation of cow's milk. It does not contain cholesterol or lactose and is low in saturated fat. ...
during times of
fasting
Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...
such as
Lent
Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
, though this was rather expensive and would have been available only to the well-off. Often, savoury ingredients such as minced pork or beef
marrow were also added (the combining of sweet and savoury ingredients was more common in medieval England), but unlike a modern
quiche the custard filling itself was invariably sweet.
In Portugal, the tarts are dusted with
cinnamon; in Britain,
nutmeg
Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...
is often used.
Modern versions
Modern custard tarts are usually made from
shortcrust pastry
Shortcrust pastry is a type of pastry often used for the base of a tart, quiche, pie, or (in the British English sense) flan. Shortcrust pastry can be used to make both sweet and savory pies such as apple pie, quiche, lemon meringue or chicken ...
, eggs, sugar, milk or cream, and vanilla, sprinkled with
nutmeg
Nutmeg is the seed or ground spice of several species of the genus ''Myristica''. ''Myristica fragrans'' (fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg) is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fruit: nutmeg, from its seed, an ...
and then baked. Unlike
egg tart
The egg tart (; ) is a kind of custard tart found in Chinese cuisine derived from the English custard tart and Portuguese pastel de nata. The dish consists of an outer pastry crust filled with egg custard. Egg tarts are often served at dim sum ...
, custard tarts are normally served at room temperature. They are available either as individual tarts, generally around across, or as larger tarts intended to be divided into slices.
Britain and Commonwealth
Custard tarts have long been a favourite
pastry
Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" sugges ...
in
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
and the
Commonwealth, where they are often called "egg custard tarts" or simply "egg custards" to distinguish the egg-based filling from the commonly served
cornflour-based custards. They are sold in supermarkets and bakeries throughout the UK.
In the UK, the custard tart is regarded as a classic British dish. A version by
Marcus Wareing
Marcus Wareing (born 29 June 1970) is an English celebrity chef who is currently Chef-Owner of the one-Michelin-starred restaurant Marcus (formerly Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley) in Knightsbridge. Since 2014, Wareing has been a judge on '' Mast ...
was selected on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
80th birthday. The tarts are either made as a single large tart from which slices are cut, or as smaller individual tartlets. Classically, they are invariably topped only with a dusting of nutmeg – fruit topping in the French style, or cinnamon dusting in the Dutch, is not typical.
Variations on the classic recipe include the
is spread on the pastry before the custard is added. Other versions may have some fresh fruit, or
, cooked into the filling. Versions topped with elaborate arrangements of fruit show the influence of French
.
. This pastry consists of an outer pastry crust filled with egg custard and condensed milk, and then baked. Contrary to other versions of this pie, this Indonesian version is very flat, with the filling consisting of only one very thin layer of custard. Another type of Indonesian pie tart is
due to historical ties).
Custard tarts in France, where they are known as ', may be filled with fruit, making them similar to
. Some may contain reconstituted shortbread.