SHF #12 - Nectarine Tart with Easy Custard

Elise from Simply Recipes is the host of this month's Sugar High Fridays. The theme - Cooking up Custard! Now, custard is something I think few bother about these days, at least in Sweden. You can buy it ready made, and you can buy it as a powder. Very simple. But, a home-cooked custard is better, for sure. I opted for a simple version - thickened partly with an egg yolk but helped by potato flour. Thus minimizing the risks of splitting. It tasted heavenly.

To go with it, I decided to use up a couple of nectarines that were laying around, and I improvised a little tart. I also got an occasion to try out a sweet pastry recipe, apparently from Chez Panisse. Not sure where I got it to tell you the truth - I think it was posted in someone's comments. I just clipped it out and saved it. It was fine - but maybe not as entirely foolproof as I would have thought. Anything that involves rolling out pastry - well, it's bound to fail if you're not practised. And personally, I don't like tart pastry much. Or pie dough, for that matter. I do like the fillings though, so I still make pies from time to time. This one was nice - the filling is very good with different textures and bright flavors, and Per loved the pastry. (We're a good match that way.)



Easy Custard (from Bonniers Kokbok)
4-6 servings

1 egg yolk
400 ml milk
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp potato flour
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla sugar

Mix the egg yolk, milk, sugar and potato flour together in a small saucepan. Heat gently. Whisk constantly, until the sauce thickens. It must not boil. Remove from heat, keep whisking, and add the vanilla sugar. Let cool or serve while still lukewarm.

Nectarine Tart

Tart Pastry from Chez Panisse
220 g unsalted butter, room temperature or cut into very small pieces
80 ml sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
310 ml flour

Beat butter and sugar together until creamy. Add salt, vanilla, and egg yolk and mix until completely combined. Add flour and mix. Wrap ball of dough in plastic and form a flat disk. Chill until firm. Then roll out, line a tart form, and put in the freezer for fifteen minutes. Directly from the freezer, bake blind in a 175 degree (350F) oven for ten minutes. Fill, and bake until finished.

Filling
3 nectarines, cut into thin wedges
3 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
50 g walnuts, roughly chopped

Combine, and add to the pre-baked tart shell. Bake until golden and it looks "done" - mine took about 15 minutes.


Glinda, interrupting the photo session

Don't forget to read the round-up at Elise's!