Milktart
Ingredients: Pastry: 110g Plain Flour Pinch of Salt 55g Unsalted butter, room temperature 2 Medium Egg Yolks 55g Caster Sugar 1/4 tsp Vanilla Extract Filling: 500ml (2 cups) Full Fat Milk 1/4 cup Sugar 1 Large Egg 1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Plain Flour 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Cornflour 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract Ground Cinnamon for sprinkling
Method: 1.With an electric beater or wooden spoon, cream the butter and sugar together until well combined 2.Add the egg yolks and and vanilla and beat until well combined (Tip: You should have a smooth buttery paste) 3.Mix in the flour until the mixture comes together as a ball of dough (Tip mixture out onto a clean work surface and knead until the dough is completely smooth and uniform) 4.Form pastry into thick disc 5.Place pastry disc between two sheets of parchment paper and refrigerate for between 20-30 mins, just to firm it slightly 6.Once chilled, leave the dough between the parchment, and roll the pastry out to roughly the size of your baking tin, making sure to roll it out slightly bigger than needed 7.Peel away the top piece of parchment and place pastry side down into your baking tin 8.Gently peel away the other sheet of parchment 9.Press the pastry into the tin, making sure to get the pastry into the corners (Tip: This pastry is very forgiving, so if tears form, simply patch them up with the excess you will trim off) (Tip: Because of the high butter content, you don't need to worry about greasing or dusting your pan beforehand) 10.Trim off any excess pastry sticking up higher than the sides of the baking tin, use offcuts to fix tears or thin patches 11.Dock the pastry with a fork (Tip: That is, lightly prick the surface of the pastry with a fork, this will help avoid large bubbles from forming) 12.Refrigerate until firm, between 30-40 mins 13.Pre-heat oven to 190°C (170°C fan assisted) / 375°F 14.Crumple up a sheet of parchment so that it's soft and flexible 15.Place crumpled sheet into the chilled pastry case and fill with baking beads, uncooked rice or beans 16.Bake blind for 10 mins 17.Using the corners of the parchment paper as handles, remove parchment and beads/beans/rice and bake for a further 5 mins, or until a light golden colour (Tip: If you want to help keep the pastry from absorbing moisture from the filling and staying crisper, first use beaten egg yolk to egg wash the pastry before returning to the oven to finish baking) 18.Remove from oven and leave to cool on a wire rack Prepare filling Filling: 1. Bring milk and butter to the boil 2.Mix rest of ingredients to a smooth paste 3.Once milk comes to the boil, remove from heat and slowly pour in other ingredients, whisking slowly to avoid lumps 4.Return to heat and mix until thick 5.Pour into baked shell and sprinkle with cinnamon 6.Refrigerate until chilled
