Some may wonder why I bake the filling since it’s already cooked. Cool at room temperature about 30 minutes then chill completely before adding your chosen garnish. I then typically fill the blind baked shells immediately with the warm curd then pop them into a 325✯ oven for about 10-15 minutes to set with a hint of a jiggle left.

If you prefer, you can make the filling while the shells are baking. It’s also great added to Swiss meringue buttercream, ice cream base during processing or blended into crème pâtissiére to fill choux puffs. If I have leftover curd, I’ll add it to whipped mascarpone as I’ve done here. It can be made several days ahead and holds well in the fridge - another win-win for planning. The lemon-lime curd is a favorite based on Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe in “Sweet”, a book I highly recommend. TIP: wrap and freeze the dough up to a couple of months for even more plan ahead fun.Ĭheck out this post for so much more on pâte brisée. If not, make the dough and chill it a few hours or overnight before rolling it out, lining your chosen rings/molds then blind baking the shells. If you already have pâte brisée in your freezer, you’re one step ahead. I like to think of tart preparation as a build-your-own process in which you can change up your chosen dough, filling and garnishes to suit your tastes and occasion. Using three of the top components on my A list, the result is a match made in heaven. I know I go on (and on and on) about the classic bases of pastry and these babies fit the bill big time. So delicious!! Plan ahead friendly! Tart lemon lime filling baked in an already blind baked pâte brisée shell then garnished with whipped lemon mascarpone cream and toasted coconut. I made these for Easter as well as for a spring pastry event right down the road - a big hit.Īfter our return from a late spring trip to New England and Nova Scotia, I was determined to write at least a bit about these, since, even with summer upon us, there’s always room for citrus. Spring’s celebrations always bring out a wave of lemon, lime and coconut themed recipes, and I’m certainly one who hops on the band wagon tout de suite. I blind baked one each of brisée and puff and left the rest unbaked. I used my 80 mm (3”) diameter, 2.5 cm (1”) high open tart rings, lining three with puff pastry scraps and three with pâte brisêe. While not a very scientific or well controlled experiment, it gave me the answers I sought. Blind baked or not and filling them with hot/cooled/frozen in the shell versions of the custard filling. My goal here was not so much to revisit the custard portion BUT to compare using puff pastry scraps and my favorite pâte brisée for the shells. It was tasty back then so I went with it for this project. It incorporates whole milk, cream, eggs, yolks, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla bean. I had already created my own flan custard base a few years back after doing a comparison of several recipes I had tried over the years. Right out of the freezer, directly into the oven! I looked back at my notes from July 25, 2013, having done a comparison between frozen and not - frozen won out for its creamier texture. His offered a unique approach whereby the custard filling was cooked, cooled then placed into unbaked puff lined rings and into the freezer for a couple of hours before baking. Always a hit.Īt The French Tarte, my small shop in Pawtucket RI (2012-2014), I occasionally made a version from Phillipe Conticini’s Pâtisserie des Rêves. Chef Pascal would line a 10-11 inch (25-28 cm) open ring with puff, hold it in the freezer and then I ( oui moi!) would make the crème pâtissière that would be poured directly from the hot saucepan into the unbaked frozen shell. Switch in some whole milk for some of the cream and some whole eggs for yolks and you’ll experience a lighter, airier custard.ĭuring my stage at Pâtisserie Pascal Pinaud in Paris’ 5th arrondisement, the house flan was made with puff pastry scraps for the crust and a simple crème pâtissière filling using whole eggs rather than yolks. Suffice it to say - all or mostly cream and all yolks in a custard make for a more unctuous mouth feel and richer taste.

It would take me an entire post to try and explain the differences. You’ll see MANY variations in custard recipes using only milk, only cream, a blend of milk and cream, some yolks, some whole eggs - you get the idea. Sorry ice cream! I have to get back on track, but I couldn’t resist bringing you into the picture.Ī custard is essentially a blend of dairy, egg and sugar with the occasional added thickener like cornstarch and/or flour, as is the case with crème pâtissière.

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