Vanilla custard slices
A glorious pastry classic that's tricky to get perfect, but lends a touch of patisserie luxury on an afternoon tea stand
Difficulty and servings
Makes 8
Preparation and cooking times
Prep 50 mins
Cook 1 hr 15 mins
plus cooling and setting
- Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Roll out 250g of the pastry on a sheet of baking parchment to about 25cm square. Scatter over half the almonds, then press them in very gently, dust with half the icing sugar and lay over a second sheet of baking parchment. Lift onto a baking sheet, and sit another baking sheet on top like a sandwich. Fill a few small tins with baking beans (or something similarily heavy and ovenproof like raw rice). Bake for 30 mins, then have a quick peek - it will probably need another 5 mins to be well browned and crisp all over.
- When done, remove from the oven, take off the weights and top baking tray, then carefully lift off the top sheet of parchment and leave to cool. Repeat with the remaining pastry - you can do both sheets at once if you have enough baking sheets and tins, but they might not cook as evenly with two in the oven, so it is safer to do one at a time. Cool both completely.
- Put the gelatine in a bowl of cold water to soften, then put the remaining custard ingredients in a big saucepan. Set over a low heat to start, whisking continuously to mix well, then increase the heat a little until the custard is gently boiling. Keep whisking the whole time - the custard will thicken and lump unevenly, but keep cooking and whisking until it is smooth and very thick.
- Remove the custard from the heat and remove the vanilla pod. Squeeze out the water from the gelatine sheet, then stir it into the custard until it has dissolved.
- Line the base and sides of a 20cm square tin with baking parchment - criss-crossing 2 big strips will give you the neatest corners. Using a big, sharp knife and a ruler - or the base of your tin if it is removable - trim one pastry sheet to a shade under a 20cm square, so it will sit inside the tin, almond-side down. Spread over the custard as evenly as you can. Trim the second pastry sheet in the same way, but then divide the square into eight 10 x 5cm rectangles (so it will be easier when you cut the slices later). Sit them on top of the custard, almondside up, putting them back together a bit like a jigsaw puzzle. Gently press down on the pastry so it doesn't break but sticks to the custard, then cover and chill for 4 hrs or so, but better still overnight.
- To serve, lift the slice from the tin and cut all the way through where the pastry top is already cut. Dust the slices with a little more icing sugar and serve. Best eaten within 24 hours, when the pastry is still good and crisp.
Find the best tin for custard slices
The Silverwood 20cm square brownie tray (from Amazon), has a removable bottom and straight sides, - so there's no rounded corners, which means your custard slices will be perfectly shaped.
PER SLICE
658 kcalories, protein 10.0g, carbohydrate 62.0g, fat 41.0 g, saturated fat 21.0g, fibre 0.0g, sugar 29.0g, salt 0.7 g
Recipe from Good Food magazine, March 2013.
Leave a comment or suggestion
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2970683/
Your binder
Sign up or sign in to receive a £60 wine voucher, and to save, rate and comment on recipes. Plus, get our newsletter.
Ingredients
- 500g pack puff pastry
- 50g flaked almonds
- 3 tbsp icing sugar , for dusting, plus extra to serve
FOR THE CUSTARD FILLING
- 1 gelatine leaf
- 750ml whole milk
- 250ml double cream
- 1 vanilla pod , halved lengthways
- 100g cornflour
- 25g custard powder
- 3 egg yolks
- 140g caster sugar
Buy ingredients
Search Good Food
Use our foolproof recipe for retro puff pastry cases then pack them high with savoury fillings for a party canapé
1
rating
A nutty sponge cake with jammy gooseberries in a shortcrust pastry case, flavoured with delicate elderflower cordial
3
ratings
Difficulty and servings
Makes 8
Preparation and cooking times
Prep 50 mins
Cook 1 hr 15 mins
plus cooling and settingIngredients
- 500g pack puff pastry
- 50g flaked almonds
- 3 tbsp icing sugar , for dusting, plus extra to serve
FOR THE CUSTARD FILLING
- 1 gelatine leaf
- 750ml whole milk
- 250ml double cream
- 1 vanilla pod , halved lengthways
- 100g cornflour
- 25g custard powder
- 3 egg yolks
- 140g caster sugar
PER SLICE
658 kcalories, protein 10.0g, carbohydrate 62.0g, fat 41.0 g, saturated fat 21.0g, fibre 0.0g, sugar 29.0g, salt 0.7 g
Advertisement
Your binder
Here are three other great reasons why to sign up:
- You get an online binder, where you can store all your favourite recipes and create menus.
Latest comments and suggestions
07 March 2013
Arose91 rated this recipe
Flag as inappropriate
Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.
08 March 2013
Susan rated and commented on this recipe
Flag as inappropriate
Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.
23 March 2013
Jayne rated this recipe
Flag as inappropriate
Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.
23 March 2013
flapjacks rated and commented on this recipe
Flag as inappropriate
Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.
29 March 2013
Bokbites rated and commented on this recipe
Flag as inappropriate
Please let us know your name and the reason you find the above comment inappropriate.