Bake Off Bake Along: Week 6 - Lemon Custard Tarts (Pasteis de Nata)

We'll just skim past the fact that we're on week 6 already and I have been having far too much fun on holiday and weekends away to have done any baking for the other weeks. After a fortnight in Portugal this summer, eating my body weight in pasteis de nata and sagres, I decided to give them a try myself.

That aside, pastry week is one of my least favourite weeks. Particularly as I don't think Paul would accept the use of shop bought pastry. And so, to keep the silver fox happy, I gave a rough puff a go all in the name of 'bake off bake along'. I used this recipe from the BBC for the pastry which was pretty simple to follow. I just struggled with re-rolling some offcuts to get extra tarts from. They lost their layers and ended up more like shortcrust. Otherwise, not too shabby I'd say.

P O R T U G E S E   L E M O N   C U S T A R D   T A R T S   ( P A S T E I S   D E   N A T A)
(Recipe adapted from Paul Hollywood, makes one dozen tarts)

300g rough puff pastry, recipe here or shop bought is fine too

375ml whole milk

zest of 2 lemons

45g plain flour

185ml water

375g caster sugar

7 large egg yolks

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees and lightly grease a 12 hole tart / muffin tray.
2. Make the pastry or roll out a block of shop bought pastry to the thickness of a pound coin. Use a 10cm cookie cutter to cut out a dozen discs and fill each of the tart holes gently pressing into each edge. Prick the base of each tart with a fork, cover with individual squares of baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake blind for 10 minutes until the pastry starts to firm. Remove from the oven and set aside whilst you make the custard.
3. In a small pan, heat the milk, lemon zest and flour together whisking continuously for 2-3 minutes until it starts to thicken. Remove from the heat.
4. Pour the sugar and water into a separate pan and gently heat to melt the sugar. Once melted, increase the heat to boil until the syrup reaches 100-110 degrees.
5. Gradually whisk the syrup into the milk mixture. Add the egg yolks to a large mixing bowl and strain over the milk, whisking continuously. Cover the surface with a layer of cling film and leave to cool. 
6. Pour the custard into each of the custard cases, about two thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for up to 20 minutes. The pastry should be golden and the custard bubbly, firm and brown.

If you think your tarts are cooked but the pastry hasn't browned enough, dust with a little icing sugar and grill or blow torch the tops until golden. Sneaky trick. 

Bake Off Bake Along:

Week 1: lemon and raspberry loaf

Week 6: lemon pasteis de nata, egg custard tarts

Week 8: treacle rum nicky tart

---

Custard Cream Cupcakes

You can't go wrong with custard creams, they really are king of the biscuits in my eyes. Whilst much research has been done on the ultimate dunker, I'll challenge purists and say that these guys are better than a ginger nut. They may not have the sculptural dignity, but they do offer the perfect flavour balance to a brew with the added cream bonus in a bid to hold some shape.

Maybe I'm biased, but they truly are my favourite.

When hearing all about my friend's new bakery business and all the cupcakes she's making I was inspired to get into the kitchen and make my own...for myself! Cupcakes are the divas of the cake business, only best on the day of baking, but there's something to be said by having your own personal little frosted cake...or three (no one's counting)!

Vanilla sponge packed with crushed custard creams and topped with custard flavour buttercream. In order to have unlocked ultimate cupcake achievement levels, I'd have loved to have made some fresh custard to fill the centres with. But alas, I was hungry and the kitchen is too hot from last week's heat wave (my jar of coconut oil still hasn't set yet). I'm saving my efforts for the Great British Bake Off starting up next month and attempt to bake along again each week.

C U S T A R D   C R E A M   C U P C A K E S
(Recipe adapted from Primrose Bakery's Everyday, makes 12-16 cupcakes)

150g self raising flour

115g plain flour

10g custard powder

120ml semi-skimmed milk, room temperature

1tsp vanilla extract

110g unsalted butter, softened

225g golden caster sugar

2 large eggs

100g custard cream biscuits, crushed

Custard buttercream:

200g unsalted butter, softened

280g icing sugar, sifted

4tbsp custard powder, sifted

few drops of milk if needed to help combine

custard creams to decorate

• Heat the oven to 180 degrees and line a cupcake tray with cupcake cases.
• Pour the milk and vanilla extract into a jug and mix together. In a bowl, add the flours and custard powder.
• Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Continue to mix on a slow speed whilst adding each egg, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Whilst continuing to mix, pour in the third of the flour until combined and alternate between the mix and the rest of the flour mix. Add in the crushed custard creams and gently fold together with a spatula.
• Spoon the batter evenly between each cupcake case, filling up to two thirds full.
• bake for 15-18 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to fool fully on a wire cooling rack before frosting.
• To make the frosting, beat the butter on a medium speed to ensure soft before gently and slowly adding in the icing sugar and custard powder. Continue to beat on a low speed at first, then medium until well combined.
• Load the butter cream into a piping bag, pipe a swirl onto the top of each cupcake and top with two halves of custard creams.

---

Spiced Pumpkin Mini Cakes

Spiced pumpkin mini cakes
(From Martha Stewart, makes 24)
     2 cups plain flour
     1tsp bicarbonate of soda
     1tsp baking powder
     1tsp salt
     1tsp ground cinnamon
     1tsp ground ginger
     1/4 freshly grated nutmeg
     1/4tsp ground allspice
     1 cup packed soft brown sugar
     1 cup caster sugar
     1 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
     4 large eggs, lightly beaten
     1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease trays and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice; set aside.
• In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, caster sugar, butter and eggs. Add dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.
• Divide batter evenly among the trays, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, or a cake tester comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

I had some chocolate custard left over from my Brooklyn Blackout cupcakes, which goes perfectly with the spicy pumpkin cake. Recipe here. Then topped with some blitzed cake crumbs and a pecan half.

Brooklyn Blackout Cupcakes

   As it's Chocolate Week I made some super chocolatey Brooklyn Blackout cupcakes. These cupcakes were made popular by Ebinger's Bakery in Brooklyn, New York. A rich chocolate cake filled with rich chocolate custard and frosted with the same rich custard and covered in cake crumbs. 

   These cakes were named after the blackout drills in New York in World War II performed by the Civilian Defence Corps. All lights in the city were turned off and windows were covered with black material to practice so that ships sailing off to battle could not be spotted by enemy planes.

Brooklyn Blackout Cupcakes
(Adapted from Hummingbird Bakery, makes 12 cupcakes)
     100g unsalted butter, softened
     260g caster sugar
     2 eggs
     45g cocoa powder
     1/4 tsp vanilla extract
     3/4 tsp baking powder
     3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
     a pinch of salt
     170g plain flour
     160ml whole milk

For the chocolate custard:
     500g caster sugar
     1tbsp golden syrup
     125g cocoa powder
     200g corn flour
     85g unsalted butter
     1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• Heat the oven to 170 degrees and line a muffin tray with cupcake cases.
• Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
• Slowly beat in the vanilla extract, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt until well mixed.
• Add half the flour, then all the milk, and finish with the remaining flour.
• Mix well until everything is well combined.
• Divide the mixture between the cupcake cases and bake for 20 minutes.
• Leave the cupcakes to cool on a wire rack.
• For the chocolate custard, put the sugar, golden syrup, cocoa powder and 600ml of water into a large saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat, whisking occasionally.
• Mix the cornflour with 120ml of water, then whisk into the cocoa mixture in the saucepan. Bring back to the boil, whisking constantly. Cook until very thick, about 10 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and vanilla extract.
• Pour the custard into a bowl, cover with clingfilm and chill until very firm.
• When the cupcakes are cold and custard cooled, use a pairing knife to cut out a cone shape from each. Put all 12 into a food processor and blitz to make fine crumbs.
• Fill each cupcake with a piping bag (I didn't use a nozzle for this) and then finish with a swirl on top. 
• Sprinkle the cake crumbs over each cupcake to decorate.

Custard Creams & Bourbons

   There's nothing better than a good British biscuit. I can't hide my fondness for a good hot brew and a biscuit to dunk. But then again, who isn't fond of a good dunk?

   I got the best gift ever, biscuit moulds! Clearly someone knows me very well! I tried out the custard cream and bourbon ones this evening but still have jammy dodger ones to try.

Custard Creams
(Makes 16-20 biscuits)
     225g plain flour
     50g custard powder
     30g icing sugar
     175g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
     1/2 tsp vanilla extract
     50g unsalted butter, room temperature
     200g icing sugar
     2 tbsp custard powder

• Pulse the flour, custard powder and icing sugar in a mixer until well combined.
• Add in the butter and vanilla extract and continue to pulse until the mixture begins to come together.
• Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge, or until firm.
• Take a small ball and press into the moulds, turn out onto a lined baking tray.
• Chill for a further 15 minutes, heat the oven to 180 degrees.
• Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a wire rack.
• To make the filling, beat the butter until soft and creamy, approximately 5 minutes.
• Slowly incorporate the icing sugar and custard powder and continue to beat until smooth.
• Once the biscuits are completely cool, use a spoon of the filling to sandwich two biscuits together.

Bourbons

(Makes 16-20 biscuits)

Follow the recipe for custard creams and substitute the custard powder with cocoa powder.

   The bourbons came out of the moulds much easier than the custard creams as the dough was a lot shorter. Perhaps a little tweaking to the recipe is required for optimum mould shaping.

Custard Creams

My favourite biscuit of all time. And to celebrate my new Nikki McWilliams biscuit cushion, I baked some.

I've baked them before so you can find my recipe here. This time I didn't go for pink hearts though.

If anyone knows where I can get some biscuit cutters to make official looking custard creams then please let me know. I'd love to bake some giant ones like the ones Costa sell.

Is it bad that I could want every biscuit cushion by Nikki? If I did, I'd be one step closer to living in my dream house, a gingerbread one!

Valentine Custard Creams

      Custard creams are my absolute favourite classic biscuit so I thought it was about time I attempted to bake my very own. I found the recipe for these on Edd Kimber's blog and gave them a little Sophie twist...hearts and pink biscuit dough!

Custard creams:
     225g plain flour
     50g custard powder
     30g icing sugar
     175g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
     1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
     1 teaspoon pink food colouring

Custard filling:
     50g unsalted butter, room temperature
     200g icing sugar
     2 tablespoons custard powder

Makes 16 - 20 biscuits.

Pulse the flour, custard powder and icing sugar in a mixer until well combined.

Add in the butter, food colouring and vanilla extract and continue to pulse until the mixture begins to come together. (At this stage my biscuit dough looked more like breadcrumbs, so I took the dough out of the mixer and kneaded).

Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for 30 minutes in the fridge until firm.

Roll out the dough on a well floured surface and roll to a thickness of 3-4mm.

Cut the biscuits with a small round cutter and place on a lined baking tray. I halved the biscuits between two baking trays. One with plain round biscuits and the other with a heart shaped centre cut out.

Chill for a further 15 minutes.

Whilst the biscuits are chilling, preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden. Its quite important to keep an eye on the biscuits, I found that the tray with heart centres was done by 8 minutes so took that one out early.

Place on a wire rack to cool.

To make the custard filling, beat the butter in a bowl until light and creamy. Approximately 5 minutes.

Slowly incorporate the icing sugar and custard powder and continue to beat until smooth. 

I found the custard filling to be quite firm so used a teaspoon to sandwich the two biscuits together.

     The dough is quite short so the biscuits have a shortbread type of texture. I think I'd change the recipe slightly so that they're more crisp than crumbly. I'm not sure if adding a little more butter would work?