Honey Fried Fig Custard and Almond Tart
Why I Love This Recipe
I made this beauty on a larger scale for my mum a few months back and it was a little bit of a train wreck. I cut the fig slices too thin so they turned to mush when I tried to fry them, the baked custard didn't set, the almond meal base went soggy on the bottom and burnt on the top…. god bless mum for still hoeing into it like a trooper (it really did look like a dogs’ breakfast) but with a few little adjustments and a couple more trial runs, I've done it…. the perfect autumn tart!
My Honey Fried Fig Custard and Almond Tart.
Ingredients You'll Need
Base
1 1/2 cups Self Raising Flour
1/2 cup Almond Meal
125g Chilled Butter (cut into small cubes)
2tbsp sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp water
1tbsp honey
Filling
2 cups Full Cream Milk
5tbsp Cornflour
1/2 cup Caster Sugar
4 egg Yolks
1tsp Vanilla Essence
Figs
Fresh figs, quartered
2tbsp Butter
2tbsp Honey
1tbsp Port (I've used a honey infused port)
Directions
Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius
Lightly flour a tart tin and set aside.
Place all base ingredients (almond meal, salt, butter, and self-raising flour, sugar, egg, water and honey) into a food processor and blitz until it forms a ball.
Remove dough from food processor and press it into your pre-prepared tin. Once you've achieved an even 2mm - 3mm thick base, use a sharp knife to cut the excess from around the rim.
Cut yourself a squares of baking paper, large enough to cover the area of the inside of your tin. Scrunch your baking paper into a ball, unravel your baking paper and press it gently into your tart tin atop your pastry. (don't skip the scrunching step, if you skip this step you will struggle to get your baking paper to fit nicely into your tin).
Fill your tart tin with uncooked rice and place your tart base in the oven to cook for 20 minutes.
Remove your tarts from the oven, discard the rice and baking paper, and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and set it in the fridge to chill.
Moving onto your custard, place your 4 egg yolks into a bowl, whisk lightly with a fork and set aside.
Meanwhile add your full cream milk and cornflour to a saucepan and place over medium heat.
Whisk your milk mixture continuously, ensuring you scrape the bottom occasionally to avoid the cornflour sticking and burning.
Once the mixture has started to bubble lightly at the edges, remove from heat and add vanilla essence, 1/4 cup caster sugar, and egg yolks and whisk together.
Return your saucepan to the heat and continue to whisk until the mixture comes together and thickens dramatically.
Remove your tart cases from the fridge and while your custard is still warm, spoon it into your chilled tart cases. You can leave them looking rustic as I have, or you can smooth the top of your custard with a knife.
Set back in the fridge to chill.
Over a medium to high heat, melt butter, honey and port together in a large frying pan.
Slice your figs into quarters and once your mixture starts to bubble, place your figs in the frying pan for 5 minutes, using a spoon to baste the figs in the honey caramel occasionally.
Once caramelized, retrieve your custard tarts from the fridge, set your figs on top of the custard and pour the remaining liquid from your frying pan over the top.
