Description
This Earl Grey Crème Brûlée Tart combines the rich, creamy custard infused with fragrant Earl Grey tea and the crisp, buttery shortcrust pastry, finished with a perfectly caramelized brûlée topping. A sophisticated dessert perfect for tea lovers looking for an elegant treat with a delightful balance of textures and flavors.
Ingredients
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
- 220 g plain flour (all-purpose)
- 40 g powdered icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
- 6 g ground Earl Grey tea leaves
- ¼ tsp fine salt
- 110 g unsalted butter (chopped small cubes)
- 1 large egg (lightly beaten)
- 15-30 ml ice cold water
- 1 egg plus 1 tbsp milk (for egg wash)
Earl Grey Custard Filling
- 6 large egg yolks
- 70 g caster sugar (superfine)
- 480 ml double cream (heavy cream)
- 2 Earl Grey tea bags
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 40-60 g caster sugar (superfine) (for the brûlée topping)
Instructions
- Make the Dough: Sift the flour, powdered icing sugar, and salt into a large bowl. Add the ground Earl Grey tea leaves and the cubed butter. Rub the butter and flour mixture between your fingers until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Incorporate Egg and Water: Stir in the beaten egg and enough ice-cold water to bring the mixture together into a dough. Use your hands to form the dough into a disc, then wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Prepare Tart Tin with Dough: On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough out to about the thickness of a coin and 30cm (12in) in diameter. Gently lift and press the dough into your tart tin, pushing it up the sides. Trim any excess dough and refrigerate overnight to relax.
- Blind Bake the Pastry Shell: Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Dock the tart base with a fork, line with parchment paper, and fill with pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove weights and paper, then brush the base with the egg wash (egg plus milk) to seal the pastry and bake a further 10 minutes until the base is lightly golden and firm. Cool completely. Reduce oven temperature to 150°C (300°F).
- Steep Earl Grey in Cream: Gently heat the double cream with the two Earl Grey tea bags in a saucepan over low heat until steaming with small bubbles around the edges. Remove from heat and steep for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and squeezing tea bags gently to release flavor, then discard tea bags.
- Prepare Custard Mixture: In a medium bowl, whisk the six egg yolks and 70 g caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Slowly pour the warm infused cream into the egg mixture while whisking continuously. Stir in the vanilla bean paste. Strain the custard through a sieve into a jug to remove any solids or frothy bubbles.
- Fill and Bake the Tart: Place the tart shell on the oven rack and pour the custard almost to the top of the pastry rim. Bake at 150°C (300°F) for 40 minutes or until the custard is set but still has a slight wobble in the center. Remove from oven and cool completely, then refrigerate for 2-4 hours to fully set.
- Caramelize the Brûlée Topping: Evenly sprinkle 40-60 g caster sugar over the chilled custard surface. Using a kitchen blow torch, caramelize the sugar until golden and crisp. For a thicker crust, repeat by adding another sugar layer and caramelizing again. Let sugar cool and harden for five minutes before serving. Crack the hardened sugar crust to enjoy.
Notes
- Use good quality Earl Grey tea for the best flavor infusion.
- When rubbing butter into flour, work quickly and keep everything cool to avoid melting the butter.
- The egg wash seals the tart base to prevent the custard from making the pastry soggy.
- Make sure to cool the tart completely before applying the sugar topping and torching to get a perfect brûlée crust.
- If you don’t have a blow torch, you can briefly place the tart under a hot broiler, watching carefully to avoid burning.
