Custard tart with poached rhubarb

Custard tart with poached rhubarb. Photograph: Harry Weir
Custard tart with poached rhubarb. Photograph: Harry Weir
Serves: 10
Course: Dessert
Cooking Time: 1 hr 30 mins

Ingredients

  • FOR THE PASTRY:
  • 225g plain flour
  • Pinch salt
  • 150g unsalted butter, cubed
  • 25g icing sugar
  • 1 egg
  • FOR THE CUSTARD:
  • 12 egg yolks (240g yolks)
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 750ml cream
  • FOR THE RHUBARB:
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
  • Peeled zest of 1 orange
  • 4 sticks of rhubarb, cut into rough chunks or batons

1 For the pastry: Rub the flour, salt and butter together with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively, you can do this in a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, or in a food processor.

2 Add the icing sugar and the egg, and as soon as the dough starts to come together, turn out on to the work surface and bring together into a ball. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 30 minutes.

3 Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan 160). Roll the chilled dough out into a large circle and line a 23cm loose-bottomed, non-stick fluted tart tin, leaving a little pastry hanging over the edge.

4 Prick the base of the pastry with a fork and place in the freezer for 20 minutes to chill completely.

5 Line the tart with a piece of parchment paper and bake blind by filling the tart with baking beans or rice and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the parchment and beans, and bake for a further two to three minutes, until golden and cooked through.

6 Patch up any gaps or holes by mixing some of the leftover raw pastry with egg and baking for a further two to three minutes. Trim the edges of the pastry. Reduce the oven temperature to 140 degrees (fan 120).

7 For the custard: heat the cream to simmering point in a medium saucepan.

8 Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together, and pour the hot cream on top, whisking all the time. Strain the custard through a sieve into a large jug.

9 Place the baked tart case on the bottom shelf of the oven. Slowly pour in the custard, and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the edges of the tart are set but there is a slight wobble in the centre. Leave to cool completely at room temperature.

10 For the rhubarb: place the sugar, vanilla pod and seeds, and orange peel into a saucepan with 400ml water. Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Reduce to a simmer, add the rhubarb pieces and cook on a gentle heat for four to five minutes, until just tender. Remove from the heat and leave the rhubarb to cool completely in the syrup before serving.

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Aoife Noonan

Aoife Noonan

Aoife Noonan is a pastry chef and culinary consultant. She writes a weekly baking column for the Irish Times Magazine