I'm not the sort of person that verbally tells people how much I miss them, or how much I love them all the time. I...bake. This ginger brulee tart from Bourke Street Bakery is really more of a chai inspired flavour - don't let the ginger title put you off. One of my best friends is currently travelling around India at the moment. She loves creme brulee, and she loves chai, so I think baking this was the way my subconscious was trying to tell me something...
This recipe does take 3 days to make, which may sound daunting, but I actually found it much easier than spending a whole day in the kitchen. Baking bit by bit over 3 days was way more manageable.
I'm not great with words so I don't want to ramble on too much about how amazing these tarts are, but seriously..these are so good! The pastry, although it's prone to shrinkage, is a rustic looking, flaky, sweet, shortcrust pastry. The cream filling is perfectly flavoured with enough of the cardamon, cinnamon and ginger to remind you of the beautiful chai spices, without being overpowering. And the slightly burnt sugar top, well, let's be honest, that's the best bit about a creme brulee!
I do want to mention a quick disclaimer that is highlighted in Bourke Street Bakery's book though. "This tart filling is one of the most challenging in the book - the brulee filling is easy to overcook and easy to undercook. This version of the filling uses pouring cream with a 35% fat content, which results in a softer filling than the one we produce at the Bakery, where we use a cream with 45% fat that is often hard to find in the shops". So I totally agree with this, I undercooked my filling, and then in a second attempt to thicken it I overcooked my filling! - and if you've overcooked custards before, I know you can empathise with me over how frustrating this is! But out of sheer stubbornness and refusal to throw away my filling that I had spent two days working on, I managed to fix an overcooked, scrambled filling so it was as good as new (solution in the recipe below). But to be honest, it really doesn't matter if your tart isn't the perfect consistency, it will still taste great. I've seen heaps of photos online of people who have attempted this tart with undercooked/overcooked filling, but it hasn't stopped them raving on about how good it is!
Recipe from Bourke Street Bakery - makes approximately 20 small tarts
Ingredients:
Cream filling
720ml pure cream (I used 300ml of King Island Dairy pure cream 52% fat + 420ml 35% pure cream from the supermarket)
5cm piece ginger, finely sliced
1 cardamon pod, bruised
1/2 cinnamon stick
10 egg yolks
80g caster sugar plus extra for burning
Handful of pistachios, chopped (optional)
Sweet shortcrust pastry
400g unsalted butter, chilled, cut in to 1.4cm cubes
20ml vinegar, chilled
100g caster sugar, chilled
170ml water, chilled
665g plain all-purpose flour, chilled
5g salt
Equipment:
8cm tart tins (measuring the larger top diameter, not the case)
11cm round pastry cutter (you can use an 11cm diameter bowl, lid, template)
Food processor (optional)
Piping bag (optional)
Day 1 - Infusing the filling
1. Put all the cream into a saucepan and mix well. Place the saucepan over a high heat (so that you don't evaporate too much of the milk) and add the ginger, cardamon and cinnamon stick. As soon as it boils, remove from the heat, pour into a large container and place it in the fridge overnight for the flavours to infuse.
Day 2 - Cooking the filling
1. Reheat the infused cream in a saucepan over medium-high heat, bring up to a simmering point, then remove from the heat.
2. Whisk the egg yolks in a stainless steel bowl. Add the sugar and whisk for about 30 seconds until the sugar has dissolved and has become pale and thick. Pour the warmed spiced cream through a sieze, discard the spices, and then pour into the egg yolk mixture, whisking well to combine.
3. Fill another large bowl (larger than your bowl containing the filling) with iced water and place it next to your stove. This is to immediately cool down the filling when it is ready, to stop it from overcooking. Put the bowl containing the filling over a saucepan of simmering water. Make sure the base of the bowl is not touching the water. Stir with a whisk for about 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture is smooth and thick, making sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl regularly with a rubber spatula. It is important to keep stirring at all times otherwise the mixture will curdle. When the mixture has thickened to a thick custard consistency, immediately place the bowl over the iced water and whisk for 2 minutes to cool quickly. Whisk every 10 minutes until the filling has cooled.
Alternatively, if the mixture is taking too long to thicken over the simmering water and you are feeling confident, you can thicken the mixture directly in a saucepan. Keep stirring the mixture like a crazy woman over a low heat, moving the saucepan to the side and off the heat every so often when it is getting too hot. As soon as it has thickened to the thick custard consistency, place it on top of the iced water and whisk to cool quickly. Of course it is safer to thicken in a bowl over simmering water, however I used this method and it worked well.
If you do accidentally overcook the mixture and scramble it, all hope is not lost! Pour the mixture into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add a couple of egg yolks and blend again till smooth. Repeat step 3 until desired thickness, and this time you should be able to gauge the point better of when to remove it off the heat - just before it scrambles (you best learn from your mistakes after all!). The extra egg yolks produces a richer filling and has slightly less flavour than without the extra yolks, but results in a well set filling!
4. Refrigerate the filling overnight.
Day 2 - Making the pastry
1. Remove the butter from the fridge 20 min before you start mixing - the butter should still be very cold so it doesn't melt through the pastry while mixing.
2. Add the vinegar, sugar and water in a bowl and stir well. Set aside for 10 minutes and then stir again to completely dissolve the sugar.
3. If you are mixing the dough by hand, mix together the flour and salt in a large bowl and toss through the butter. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour to partly combine. Keep your hands cold by running them through cold water when you feel your hands starting to warm up.
4. If you are using a food processor, put the flour and salt in the food processor, add the butter, and pulse in 1-second bursts about 3 - 4 times until partly combined.
5. You should now have a floury mix where you can see squashed pieces of butter. Turn this out onto the work surface and gather together. Sprinkle over the sugar mixture and use the palm of your hand to smear the mixture away from you across the work surface. Gather together again and repeat the smearing process until the dough is brought together. About 4-5 times in total. You should still be able to see streaks of butter marbled through the pastry. Divide the dough in half and shape into two round discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
Day 3 - Cooking the pastry
1. Remove the pastry form the fridge 20 minutes before you wish to roll it.
2. Sprinkle a little flour on the bench and over the rilling pin. Roll the dough to a flat round disc about 3mm thick. Try not to use too much flour, only enough to stop it from sticking.
3. Transfer to a tray and rest in the fridge for 2 hours to let the pastry relax.
4. Brush tart tins with a little butter. Cut out the pastry with an 11cm round pastry cutter. Place the pastry on the top and use your fingers to gently push the pastry into the mould. You should have about 1cm overlap (or do what I did and cut off the excess pastry so you have a 1cm overhang). Using your index finger and thumb, force the pastry down into the mould so that it's only 2mm overhanging. This method is to counteract the pastry shrinking due to the high water content in this dough. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes to let the gluten relax and hold it's shape.
5. Preheat oven to 180degrees celcius fan forced oven (200 degrees convection oven).
6. Line the pastry cases with a double layer of foil, and fill with pastry beans or rice Place them on a tray and place in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is cooked and golden, especially in the centre which is the last place to colour.
Day 3 - Assembling the tarts! finally!
1. Pipe the custard into the cooled tart shells (or spoon it in). You should slightly overfill each one so you can use the back of a knife to scrape the custard to be flush with the top of the tart shell. Put in the fridge for another 4 hours to set.
2. Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of caster sugar over the top of each tart and burn with a blowtorch to caramelise.
3. Sprinkle a few pistachios on top to serve.
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