Christmas tart

Wow. That was close. I just found out about a competition on the UKFBA and thought I was going to miss the deadline!

The task is to create a new recipe using Matthew Walker’s “The Pudding” and it’s been no easy task. My Christmas pudding arrived at the beginning of the week and I still didn’t know what I was going to create. How is it possible to make a Christmas pudding even tastier?

I thought the only thing to do is add some different textures and also couple the pudding with a real classic combination, custard. So, I present to you my Christmas tart! The pastry case, courtesy of Kate’s recipe, adds a nice little crunch and the smooth custard topping mellows down the rich pudding. All you need to do is add a little dusting of icing and maybe a scoop of ice cream. Delicious.

Preheat your oven to 175°C/350°F.

Remove The Pudding from it’s packaging and place it in a bowl. Use two forks to carefully break the pudding apart. Spoon the pudding mixture into the pasty case and spread it out evenly. Use your fingers or the back of a spoon to firmly press it down into the pastry, until it’s around 1cm thickness.

To make the custard pour the sugar into a large mixing bowl and add the eggs and yolk. Whisk it just enough to blend the eggs, before stirring in the cream and vanilla essence. Pour the mixture into a jug.

Partly pull out your oven rack and place the tart tin on it. Pour the custard into the case covering the pudding mix and carefully slide the rack back into the oven, making sure it’s as level as possible.

Bake until it’s just about set, which should take around 20-25 minutes. The centre should have a little wobble when you remove it from the oven.

Let the tart cool slightly before removing from the tin. Dust with icing sugar and serve with ice cream or a little more double cream. You could even make some brandy butter. Yum!