![]() You just have to get the custard to the right consistency. Making PETs isn’t difficult once you understand the science behind the tarts. when there’s a press review! How to stop the custard from sinking as it cools down so that the top stays level? Again by stabilizing it with cornflour. Lord Stow’s, the gold standard, are picture perfect only some of the time, i.e. Add the measured syrup and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth, 3 to 5 minutes. Your tarts will be perfect only if the custard is not too thick and not too thin.Įven store-bought tarts may have a sunken top. Boiling custard bubbles furiously and spills out out its shell. If the custard is really very watery, it boils when it’s heated in the oven. If the consistency is slightly too thin, the custard allows too much sugar to separate when baked, turning the pastry soggy. If the consistency is too thick, the custard turns into scrambled eggs when it’s baked. How? With cornflour.Ĭornflour stabilizes the custard, and reduces the amount of sugar separated.Īctivating the binding quality of cornflour requires the custard mixture to be heated to the right consistency. How to tackle the problem? By controlling the amount of sugar that separates from the custard mixture. Some of it may sink to the bottom of the tart and turn the pastry soggy. Separated sugar’s a good thing except not all of it finds its way up if there’s a lot. It then bubbles up to the top, giving the custard its shiny look. The shine is due to melted sugar which separates from the custard mixture when heated. The surface of the custard filling is shiny. That’s why it’s burnt when the pastry and sugar aren’t. Milk proteins, OTOH, brown at a much lower temperature. At that temperature, puff pastry would turn black too. But sugar, or rather sucrose, turns black only when it hits at least 210☌. No film means no burn marks even at 250☌, at least not before the pastry’s burnt.Ī lot of people think PETs’ burnt splodges are bits of caramelized sugar. ![]() Not enough milk means no film because there isn’t enough protein. Why? Because it’s this film that’s burnt, not sugar or custard. The custard has to form the protein film. Milk forms a film of protein when heated. There must also be enough milk in the custard mixture. High heat isn’t the only condition for creating burn marks. That’s why Portuguese egg tarts are made with puff pastry, which needs a high temperature to puff up. At that temperature, shortcrust pastry would be incinerated. Using a spoon, drizzle caramel over top of each tart.Portuguese egg tarts must be baked in a very hot oven, at about 250☌, to get their signature burn marks. ![]()
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