Custard Tarts

In Portugal, these are known as Pastéis de Nata, those wonderful small custard tarts made with crisp, flaky pastry encasing a delicious baked custard.

This recipe is from my own collection. It has been stuck on the fridge for years and I finally decided to give it a go. I used ready-made puff pastry as suggested.

A sheet of puff pastry

100g caster sugar

3 egg yolks

2 tbsp cornflour

250ml milk

200ml single cream

½ a vanilla pod or ½ tsp vanilla extract

Icing sugar to dust the pastry

Preheat the oven to 200ºC.

Grease a 12 hole muffin tray or cake tin.

Take your pastry out of the fridge about an hour before you want to use it, to allow it to soften slightly.

Unroll it and dust with icing sugar. Now roll it back up into a tight log and using a sharp knife, cut it into 12 rounds.

Sprinkle some icing sugar onto your board and using a rolling pin, dusted with icing sugar, roll each circle flat to roughly 11cm across.

I used the rolling pin to start with and then used my fingers to stretch the pastry, in a circular motion, until I'd got the right size for the tin. Mold the circles into your muffin tray and put them into the fridge.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until creamy.

Mix the cornflour with a little milk (taken from the 250ml) and whisk into the yolks.

Heat the single cream, milk and vanilla in a saucepan until nearly boiling. Take out the vanilla pod (if using) and whisk slowly into the yolks. Then pour back into the saucepan and heat gently, stirring continuously, for about three minutes. It will thicken.

Ladle or spoon into the pastry cases to about three quarters full.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden.

I made these twice, once in small cake tins and once in a muffin tray. A word of warning -

do not overfill with the custard or they will overflow! My attempts did, both times, so I simply trimmed off the excess custard with a knife. Always a solution and I'm not sure my family were any the wiser ...

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Lemon Ice Cream

A zesty and refreshing ice cream, perfect for summer days. No need for an ice cream maker with this recipe. Simply whisk everything together and freeze. Couldn't be easier!

This recipe comes from my mother's book, given to her by a friend in the village where she lived.

250ml double cream

1 egg

200g caster sugar

75ml lemon juice (2 small or 1 large lemon)

2 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp fresh lemon balm, chopped (optional)

pinch of salt

300ml milk

Lemon balm is a lemon-scented herb from the mint family, but unless you have it growing in the garden, you may find it hard to come by. I couldn't get it so I didn't use it, instead increasing the amount of lemon zest.

Zest the lemons and squeeze the juice.

Beat the egg with the cream until blended and thickened. Add the sugar gradually, beating continuously until the mixture is stiff. Add the lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and lemon balm (if using) and beat until combined. Add the milk and beat again.

Pour the mixture into a large tupperware or, as I did, recycle an ice cream container. Put it into the freezer. Then take it out after 2 hours and whisk it up again (you can do this in the container using a fork). This will stop it crystallising. Return to the freezer for another 2-3 hours or longer if you don't want to eat it straight away.

I think ice cream needs a bit of 'crunch' with it, so I made some almond biscuits to serve alongside. Or you could just scoop it into an ice cream cone!

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Breakfast Muffins

An easy muffin recipe for a healthy start to the day. Ready in a jiffy, they are best served warm but will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days. I found this recipe in my mother's book and they are now a firm favourite in our house.

155g flour

50g caster sugar

30g wheatgerm

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp salt

sprinkle of nutmeg

4 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp vanilla

75ml vegetable oil

240ml water

1 egg

Preheat the oven to 190ºC

Grease your muffin tins. No need if you're using muffin liners.

The recipe says this amount makes 12, but if, like me, you use large muffin cups it will make six. Double the recipe if you want more.

Measure out all the dry ingredients and mix them together in a bowl or measuring jug.

In a separate bowl, beat together the oil and egg, then add the water and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and beat to blend.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes depending on the size of your tins.

Best served warm.

This recipe is for plain muffins and the batter is quite liquid, which gives them a light fluffy texture. For extra flavour, you could add more cinnamon but if you want to add fruit or nuts (I added blueberries to my second batch), they may sink to the bottom of the muffin case.

Still taste good though!

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