This tartlet, with a sweet shortcrust pastry base filled with custard, decorated with a touch of burnt coconut sugar and a few fresh raspberries is perfect to impress anyone, as it is very eye-catching and at the same time the mix of flavours are the classics that everyone likes.
The most delicate part is the shortcrust pastry, as you will need the dough to be very cold at all times in order to be able to handle it well and line the ring, so that it doesn’t get deformed by the heat of your hands when working with it.
It also needs to be very cold before putting it in the oven, so that the butter does not melt prematurely and the shortcrust pastry collapses inside the oven without any backing up.
The taste of the shortcrust pastry is well balanced, as it is sweet thanks to the icing sugar and has a nutty taste that is mild thanks to the touch of almond flour. In addition, the vanilla extract provides an unmistakable aroma without stealing the protagonism from the classic rich custard, topped off with delicious fresh raspberries.
The bottom line? The perfect dessert to show off your master chef skills to all your family and friends at your next dinner party. They’ll love you and want to hire you to be their personal pastry chef. It’s getting serious.
Let’s bake!
Substitutions and Frequently Asked Questions
How many tartlets does this recipe yield?
This recipe yields 1 medium-sized tartlet of 20 cm in diameter and 2 cm in height, and if you have a bit of dough left over you can always make a couple of biscuits to use it to avoid throwing it away. As you can see in the photos and video, I made other quantities because I needed 3 tartlets, so if you want to make more just multiply the quantities in this recipe by the number you want and that’s it.
What moulds do you use for the tartlets?
For this type of medium-sized tartlets or even individual tartlets, I use stainless micro-perforated and plain rings. If you don’t have this type of ring then you can use a mould with a removable base. Here are some links so you can buy the ones I use directly: medium 20cmX2cm ring and small 8cmX2cm rings.
If I bake individual tartlets, is the time the same?
No, baking smaller pieces means that the heat is more easily distributed. Therefore, in this case, approximately 7 minutes at 170 C with heat from above and below is sufficient. The individual tartlets should have a golden brown colour.
Can I substitute icing sugar for white sugar?
Preferably not, as the texture of icing sugar is powdered and that of white sugar is granulated. Therefore you would be left with a dough with a sandy texture, similar to the classic tea biscuits with sugar on top, and that is not what you are looking for in a sweet shortcrust pastry, what you are looking for is a crunchy but not sandy texture.
Can I substitute coconut sugar?
Yes, you can use brown or white sugar in the same way and in the same quantities.
How can I adapt the recipe to make it suitable for lactose-intolerant people?
Simply change the whole milk to lactose-free whole milk. The important thing in this recipe is not the lactose, but the fat content of the whole milk, which is between 3.5 and 4%, and this does not change if the milk is lactose-free whole milk.
On the other hand, the butter contains 0.1% lactose, as the rest is removed in the production process. Therefore, the amount is tiny and, according to experts, it can be consumed without any problems, unless you are extremely intolerant.
Custard tartlet with raspberries
This tartlet, is perfectly balanced between the sweetness of the shortcrust pastry and the light almond flavour combined with the vanilla extract and its unmistakable aroma, without stealing the protagonism from the custard, topped with bright raspberries.
Ingredients
sweet shortcrust pastry
- 165g wheat flour
- 63g icing sugar
- 20g almond flour
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- a pinch of salt
- 100g unsalted butter, cold
- 37g egg (approx. ½ egg)
- 5g butter, melted (to grease the cake tin)
custard
- 164 ml whole milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 30g egg yolk
- 37g white sugar
- 6g unsalted butter
decoration
- coconut sugar as needed
- 125g raspberries
Instructions
SWEET SHORTCRUST PASTRY
- In a large bowl, sift the flour, icing sugar, almond flour and add a pinch of salt.
- Add the cold butter and mix until the texture is sandy.
- Add the egg and mix until the dough is smooth.
- Wrap the dough in cling film and chill completely for 30 minutes in the fridge.
- With a kitchen brush, lightly grease the inside of the mould with a little melted butter and put it in the freezer to cool for 5 minutes.
- Roll out the chilled dough with a rolling pin to a height of about 2 mm.
- Line the moulds and leave the dough to chill for 30 min in the freezer.
- Preheat the oven to 170 C with heat from above and below.
- Prick the base of the tartlet several times with a fork, to allow the water (which is incorporated in the ingredients such as butter) to evaporate easily once the tartlet is in the oven, thus preventing the base from becoming lumpy.
- Bake the tartlet for about 20 min, until the pastry is golden brown.
CUSTARD
- In a medium saucepan, pour the milk together with the vanilla and bring to the boil.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until thick and pale yellow in colour.
- Gradually pour the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture and whisk well until smooth.
- Put this mixture into the saucepan of milk, used previously, and bring to the boil while whisking until the cream thickens.
- Remove from the heat, pour into a medium bowl and cover with cling film so that it does not crust later.
- Leave the cream to cool in the fridge before filling the tartlet.
GARNISH
- Decorate the tartlet with the necessary amount of coconut sugar on top and burn it with a kitchen blowtorch.
- Place the raspberries on top and serve the tartlet cold.
Notes
- You can change the raspberries for different fruits that you have on hand such as oranges, kiwi, grapes ...
- Keep the tartlet in the fridge in an airtight container and it will be in perfect condition for about 3 days.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 98gAmount Per Serving: Calories: 255kcalTotal Fat: 11.11gSaturated Fat: 5.56gCholesterol: 97mgSodium: 66mgCarbohydrates: 33.66gFiber: 1.9gSugar: 15.94gProtein: 5.09g
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