This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe comes from Baking with Dorie. Parisian Custard Tart is something I’ve eaten a fair few times whilst in France, mostly the tall “flan” version – this version looks more like a giant Portuguese custard tart so I figured I could minify this to make individual serves (especially as I was just off a flight and wanted to make things easy for myself!)
Dorie says:
The macaron may be synonymous with Paris, but there’s another, less well-known dessert that’s beloved in the city—this tart. It’s basic and plain, distinctive but not at all dainty, decorative or attention-grabbing. It’s simply a crust, often puff pastry, filled with pastry cream and baked until the custard is set and the top is browned to a mahogany char. The darker the top, the more authentic the tart. In Paris, this dessert is called a flan—I know you might be tempted to think of crème caramel, but the two desserts are very different. The tart can be tall, like a torte (or a New York cheesecake), or short, like a typical tart; it can be rich or lean, and the filling flavored or not. Mine is less than 2 inches tall; creamy but not rich or heavy; set but still jiggly; and full of warm flavor—I use lots of vanilla and also dark rum, vanilla’s good pal. And because I use store bought puff pastry for the crust (although you could make it with tart dough, if you prefer), this tart can be an everyday dessert, a snack or a take-a-break-from-work treat, as it is for Parisians.
I used store-bought puff pastry and made half the filling. This makes roughly 12 mini tarts, made in muffin tins, although my first half of the filling went into pastry cases that were a little smaller than this and the filling was a bit precarious (and it didn’t hold enough).
Next round, I used slightly larger rounds (using a round of pastry that’s 10cm (4 inches) in diameter) and it was a better amount of filling (a heaping 1 1/2 tablespoon scoop) and the ratio to pastry was better (pastry also rolled a little thinner).
Result? These were REALLY good! SO much easier than other custard tart recipes I’ve made/ seen. This mini version bakes in about 25 minutes (I popped them under the grill/ broiler for a few minutes at the end to get the colouring) so as long as you have your custard cooled, they can be made fairly fast with (what I consider) pantry, fridge and freezer staples.
I’ll be making these again soon!
Get the recipe for Parisian Custard Tart on p 292 of Baking with Dorie or get a version of it here.
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Minis! I love them. Can you stop at just one?
Your minified version looks great and hand ready. I think your custard looks perfect too.
This tart recipe is so good, and the minis are right up my street – yum.
Oh, those little mini custard tarts are so fun…and you got such a great color on the tops. It was fun to try this recipe and new techniques…now I would like to taste one in Paris as you have shared. It was just “okay” here…not something I will probably make again as with so many of the recipes, but nice to have once. Can you believe I even said that and am not waxing gratitude that it was not a chocolate tart?? Yours truly do look wonderful. Kudos to you baking when you got off the plane.
From the look these beautiful mini tarts, I can use a few of them. It would be even more fun to have some French and Portuguese ones side by side, just for comparisons.
Oh, I like the look of these mini ones! They turned out great…I think this was a winning recipe!