Creme Brulee Tart

A delicious Crème Brûlée Tart – there’s no denying this combination is irresistible. Crème Brûlée Tart is an elegant dessert, a refined interpretation of the famous French classic. Silky, smooth custard topped with a thin layer of caramelised sugar. The tart is surprisingly not too sweet, and the crisp caramelised shell gives it character and a unique flavour.

Ingredients for the base:

• 200 g plain flour
• 120 g butter, cold and diced
• 60 g icing sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 2-3 Tbsp cold water

In a bowl, combine the sifted plain flour and diced butter, rubbing them together until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the icing sugar, salt and water, then knead gently until the dough just comes together and is almost smooth (alternatively, you can use a food processor). Shape into a flat disc, wrap in cling film and chill in the refrigerator for 30–60 minutes.

Grease a 24 cm tart tin with butter and dust lightly with plain flour. Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll it out to about 3 mm thickness. Carefully line the tart tin with the pastry, then return it to the refrigerator to chill for another 30 minutes. After chilling, lightly dust the pastry with flour and place a sheet of baking paper on top. Fill with baking beans (or dried beans or uncooked rice) to weigh it down.

Preheat the oven to 220°C, then reduce the temperature to 190°C. Bake the pastry case for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and carefully lift out the baking paper and weights. Lower the temperature to 180°C and return the pastry to the oven for a further 10–15 minutes, until golden and dry. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

Ingredients for the crème brûlée filling:

• 5 egg yolks
• 75 g caster sugar
• 1 vanilla pod
• 375 ml whipping cream
• 80 ml milk

Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until light and pale.

Heat the milk, whipping cream and the seeds scraped from the vanilla pod in a saucepan until just boiling, then remove from the heat. Slowly pour the hot cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly. Mix well and leave to cool slightly. Pour the custard (still slightly warm) over the baked pastry base.

Bake at 140°C for about 60 minutes, or until just set. The centre of the tart may still have a slight wobble – this is normal, as the filling will firm up as it cools. Remove from the oven, leave to cool completely, then chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Ingredients for the caramelised sugar:

• 4 Tbsp sugar

Gently pat the surface of the tart dry with a paper towel and sprinkle evenly with sugar. Place the tart tin on a sheet of aluminium foil and wrap the edges of the tart to protect them from burning.

Turn on the grill (broiler) in your oven. Place the tart directly under the hot grill for about 2 minutes, watching it carefully*. The sugar should melt and caramelise, turning golden to dark brown. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

* The sugar can also be caramelised using a kitchen blowtorch.

** The tart base and custard can be baked the evening before and left to cool. On the day of serving, caramelise the sugar just before serving, first drying the surface of the custard with a paper towel (otherwise the sugar crust may soften and won’t be as crisp).

Enjoy!