Paul’s Egg Custard Tarts

For pastry, stir the flour and ground almonds together in a large bowl, then add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar last. Crack in the egg and mix it with your fingers until the mixture forms a soft dough. On a lightly floured surface, form a disc with the dough. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and leave to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400F. Roll out the sweet pastry on a lightly floured work surface. Using an 4½in fluted cutter, cut out twelve discs and line the muffin tray moulds with the pastry circle. The pastry should be a tiny bit above the edges of the muffin tins. You may have to re-roll the dough a time or two to get all twelve cut out. For custard filling, warm the milk in a pot until steaming, but not simmering at all, and beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a separate bowl until pale and creamy. Pour the milk onto the egg yolk mixture and whisk well, creating little bubbles. Transfer the custard into a pourable cup. Feel each custard tart almost to the top of the pastry. Sprinkle each with fresh ground nutmeg. Bake the tarts in the oven for about 25 minutes – you may need to turn the temperature down to 350F for the final 10 minutes. Rotate the muffin tin halfway through to ensure even baking. You are looking for a very slight dome on the custard, indicating that it is baked. If the custard domes too much this indicates that you have over-cooked the custard, it will have boiled, and will sink back down leaving a big dip. If this does happen you can help rescue it by removing the tarts from the oven immediately and placing the tin in cold water on a cold surface. Cool in the tin for 30 minutes before trying to remove the tarts. The base of the tarts should be perfectly baked through, without having over-cooked the custard filling.