Brûléed Fig Custard Tarts Recipe
Passionfruit curd, fig leaf oil
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Ingredients
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Tart Shells (makes 8, 9-cm/3.5-inch shells)
Passionfruit Curd (fills tarts)
Custard (to blend with curd for brûléed top)
Finishing and Flavoring
Method
Tart Shells (makes 8)
- 1
Make dough
Whisk together flour, icing sugar, and salt in a bowl. Using a pastry cutter or food processor, cut cold cubed butter into the dry ingredients until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some pea-sized pieces. Add the egg yolk, cold water, and vanilla; pulse just until the dough begins to come together. Do not overwork.
- 2
Chill and roll
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, press into a flat disk, wrap tightly in plastic, and chill for 30–45 minutes until firm. When chilled, on a lightly floured surface roll dough to about 3 mm (1/8 inch) thick. Cut eight 11–12 cm (4.5-inch) rounds and press into tart pans (9 cm/3.5-inch bases) with removable bottoms, trimming excess. Chill shells in pans for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
- 3
Blind-bake
Preheat oven to 190°C / 375°F. Line each tart shell with parchment and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove weights and parchment and bake another 6–8 minutes until edges are golden and base set. Let cool completely on a rack. Reduce oven to 160°C / 325°F if you plan to reheat when finishing.
Passionfruit Curd
- 4
Heat pulp and sugar
In a medium saucepan, combine passionfruit pulp and granulated sugar. Warm gently over medium heat, stirring, until sugar dissolves and mixture is steaming but not boiling (about 2–3 minutes).
- 5
- 6
Cook curd
Stir constantly over low heat until the mixture thickens and registers 75–80°C (165–176°F) on an instant-read thermometer, or coats the back of a spoon (about 5–7 minutes). Remove from heat and whisk in cold butter, one piece at a time, then salt. Pour through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl to remove seeds and solids. Press plastic wrap directly on surface to prevent skin forming and chill until cool, about 1–2 hours. Yield: ~1 to 1¼ cups.
Custard
- 7
Infuse cream (optional)
In a small saucepan, combine heavy cream and milk with vanilla paste and salt. Warm over medium heat until just steaming; do not boil. Remove from heat.
- 8
Temper yolks and combine
In a bowl, whisk the 3 egg yolks with 1/4 cup granulated sugar until pale. Slowly pour about half of the hot cream mixture into the yolks while whisking constantly to temper. Return tempered yolk mixture to the saucepan with remaining cream and stir over low heat until the custard slightly thickens and coats the back of a spoon (do not curdle), about 3–5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
- 9
Blend with curd
When both the passionfruit curd and the custard are cool (but still pourable), fold together about 3/4 cup passionfruit curd with the custard to create a silky brûlée base. Reserve roughly 1/4 cup of curd for garnish or extra tang if desired. Taste and adjust salt if needed. The blended filling should be smooth and pourable for filling tart shells.
Assembly and Brûlée Finish
- 10
Fill shells
Preheat oven to 150°C / 300°F if you want to set custard slightly in the shell before brûléeing (optional). Spoon or pipe about 3 tablespoons (approx. 45 ml) of the passionfruit-custard blend into each cooled tart shell, leaving the surface smooth and level. Gently tap pans to remove air bubbles.
- 11
Optional low bake
If you prefer a slightly set interior, place tarts on a baking sheet and bake for 8–10 minutes at 150°C / 300°F until filling is just set at the edges but still slightly jiggly in center. Remove and cool to room temperature. Alternatively, you can skip this step and brûlée directly if curd and custard were fully chilled and safe.
- 12
Chill
Chill filled tarts in refrigerator for at least 1 hour to firm the filling for a clean brûlée.
- 13
Apply fig leaf oil and sugar
Just before finishing, brush the surface of each tart very lightly with a single tiny drop (about 1/4 drop per tart) of fig leaf oil spread thinly with the back of a spoon or a pastry brush—fig leaf oil is potent; a little goes a long way. Immediately sprinkle an even, thin layer (about 2 teaspoons) of granulated sugar over each tart to form a 2–3 mm sugar layer for caramelizing.
- 14
Caramelize (brûlée)
Using a handheld culinary blowtorch held about 6–8 cm from the sugar surface, torch in even strokes until the sugar melts and browns to an amber, crackly crust (about 20–40 seconds per tart). Rotate for even caramelization. If you do not have a torch, place tarts under a very hot broiler for 1–2 minutes watching closely — this is less precise and can heat the filling.
- 15
Garnish and serve
Top each tart with a halved fresh fig and 2 small micro basil or mint leaves. Serve at once so the brûléed sugar is crisp. Leftovers: refrigerate up to 24 hours; sugar crust will soften with time.