Milk Chocolate and Coffee Custard Almond Tarts

, from Issue #66. May, 2016
Photography by Manja Wachsmuth.
Milk Chocolate and Coffee Custard Almond Tarts

Crispy pastry shells filled with softly set coffee custard and topped with crunchy almonds... it’s hard to stop at one. 

INGREDIENTS

Pastry
2 sheets pre-rolled butter puff pastry
Custard
300ml crème fraîche
1 tablespoon instant espresso coffee granules
4 tablespoons caster sugar
pinch salt
2 large eggs, size 7

1 large egg yolk
50 grams milk chocolate, finely grated (Whittaker's 33% Cocoa Creamy Milk)
To serve
⅓ cup sliced almonds, toasted
icing sugar, for dusting

12 hole, ½-cup capacity muffin tin, lightly greased 

METHOD

Preheat the oven 180°C fan bake.

Pastry: Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured bench until a little thinner. Stamp out 12 circles and line the tins. Chill until firm.

Custard: Put 2 tablespoons of the crème fraîche in a medium bowl and stir in the coffee until smooth and dissolved. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk everything together. Transfer to a jug and pour into the tart cases.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the custard is puffed and just set and the pastry is golden and crisp. The custard will deflate on cooling. Cool for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack.

To serve: Top with toasted almonds and dust with icing sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 12