Christmas-spice crème brûlée tart
Serves: 10
Prep time: 40 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Martin Poole
Christmas-spice crème brûlée tart
This silky tart would make a brilliant alternative to Christmas pudding if you want something slightly lighter that still ticks the indulgence box. The rich, velvety custard is fragranced with an array of gingerbread spices and then topped with a layer of caramelised sugar for a satisfying crunch
Serves: 10
Prep time: 40 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
447Kcal
Fat
32gr
Saturates
18gr
Carbs
33gr
Sugars
15gr
Fibre
1gr
Protein
6gr
Salt
0.3gr
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 225g plain flour
- 125g salted butter, diced
- 50g icing sugar, plus extra to dust
- 1 medium egg yolk
For the custard filling
- 300ml double cream
- 150ml whole milk
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 8 medium egg yolks
- 80g dark brown sugar (we used Billington’s)
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
You'll also need
- a cook’s blowtorch
Step by step
Get ahead
Bake the tart case upto 3 days ahead; store in an airtight container. Fill and bake the tart up to 5 hours before serving; keep at room temperature. Leftovers keep for up to 3 days in the fridge.
- To make the pastry, whiz the flour and butter together in a food processor until it is crumb-like. Add the icing sugar and pulse to mix, then add the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of chilled water. Blitz until it comes together in a ball. Shape into a disc, wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- Lightly dust your work surface with a little icing sugar and roll out the pastry. Line a 20cm diameter straight-sided tart or sandwich tin (about 5cm deep) with the pastry, pressing it into the corners. Trim the edges and place in the freezer for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4.
- Line the tart case with a sheet of crumpled baking paper and then fill with baking beans. Bake for 25 minutes or until set, then remove the baking paper and beans and return the case to the oven for a further 5 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 150°C, fan 130°C, gas 2.
- For the custard filling, put the cream and milk in a pan with the spices and vanilla and heat over a medium-low heat. Meanwhile, put the egg yolks and sugar in a separate bowl and whisk together. When the milk starts steaming, gently pour it into the egg mixture, whisking continuously. Place the tart tin on a baking tray, then slowly pour in the custard until it’s right to the top. Carefully transfer the tray to the oven and bake for 1 hour, or until the custard has set but still has a slight wobble. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely before removing from the tin.
- For the brûlée topping, shortly before serving, dust the custard with the icing sugar and use a blowtorch to gently caramelise the sugar.
