Custard Tart

Confession: I've always been a little afraid of custard tarts. I'm fairly certain it had everything to do with a deep distrust of nutmeg and the fact that really, the only custard tarts I'd ever tried were the nameless, tasteless, fake-yellow gelatinous goo-flled ones I'd had the misfortune of eating from supermarkets. blecch.

I'm not a fan of gelatinous goo.

Anyhow, as there's always a surplus of sad little egg yolks left over from such meringue-y goodness as Eton Mess, there has to be a way to use them up. And custard is always the first thing I think of. I wanted the sinfully rich cream-and-egg mixture like Nigella Lawson would make, and not some supermarket goo-filler, so I've adapted a regular pouring custard into something that would hold its shape (somewhat) in a crust.

Oh and by the way - I bought the crust so am only posting the custard recipe here. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
1 cup thickened cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
1 1/2 tablespoons cornflour/cornstarch
1/3 cup caster sugar

Directions:

1. Combine milk and cream in a small saucepan. Add vanilla and cook over medium heat 5 minutes. Do not allow to boil.

2. Whisk egg yolks, cornflour and sugar together. Pour hot mixture over eggs and whisk until combined.

3. Return saucepan to low heat and cook gently, stirring constantly for 10-15 minutes. It may not take that long (mine didn't), but you want it to be lovely and thick. Take it off the heat if it starts to boil.

4. Allow the custard to cool, stirring regularly to help thicken and to avoid getting a skin (um, ew).

5. Pour cooled custard into browned and cooled frozen pie shell.