Our berry picking has started early this year. We were out gathering bilberries at the weekend. They love acid soil and are found on low-growing bushes in the surrounding area. The berries are small and picking them is quite time consuming – but, be patient, they’re well worth the effort!
We put some in the freezer for future jam making and used the rest of our crop to make this bilberry custard tart. Here’s the recipe:
You’ll need to collect about 225g/8oz bilberries. Remove stalks and stray leaves and rinse in a sieve. Dry carefully on some kitchen towel (Don’t use a tea towel unless you don’t mind it getting stained purple).
Shortcrust pastry
125g/4oz plain flour
pinch of salt
55g/2oz butter, cubed
30-45ml/2-3 tbsp cold water
(or you can buy a pack of ready-made in the chilled section of most supermarkets)
- Put the flour and salt in a large bowl and add the cubes of butter
- Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs with no large lumps of butter remaining
- using a knife, stir in just enough of the cold water to bind the dough together
- wrap the pastry in clingfilm and chill for 10-15 minutes before rolling out
- flour the table and roll out the pastry to about 1/2cm thick and 25cm/10inches in diameter (or large enough to fit over the dish you’re using)
- carefully lift the pastry and lay it over your dish, moulding it to the bottom & sides
- cut off any excess bits using a sharp knife
- pour in the fresh bilberries
Custard
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
475ml/1pt milk
55g/2oz caster sugar
- heat the milk gently in a pan
- whisk the eggs & egg yolks
- slowly add the milk to the egg mixture whisking continuously (make sure the milk’s not too hot or the eggs will scramble!)
- pour the mixture carefully through a sieve on to the bilberries in the dish
Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF/Gas Mark 4. Cook the flan for 45 minutes or until the top begins to brown nicely. When cool sprinkle a tablespoon of caster sugar over the top.
The tart looks fabulous with the deep purple juice seeping into the creamy custard…
…and it tasted good too!
