Ingredients
- sweet shortcrust pastry
- 2 cups of milk
- 5 tbsp of sugar
- 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tsp of essence)
- 1/2 cup of cornflour
- 6 eggs
- 1/4 cup of sugar
- 50g of butter
- 100ml of whipped cream
- 3-4 ripe persimmons
- caster sugar (optional)
Method
Line a 24cm tart ring with sweet shortcrust pastry. Rest before baking the shell.
For the pastry cream
Make the pastry cream by combining 1 2/3 cups of milk, 5 tablespoons of sugar and a split and scraped vanilla bean (or a teaspoon of essence) in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and stir to dissolve the sugar. Whisk together 1/3 cup of milk with 1/2 cup of cornflour. In another bowl whisk together 1 whole egg and 5 egg yolks with 1/4 cup of sugar till light and fluffy. Add the cornflour and mix well. Add a cup of the hot milk and whisk, then add the rest of the milk. Transfer the mixture to a saucepan and heat on a moderate flame. Whisk continually till it thickens; don't worry about the lumps, just keep whisking. When very thick, place in a bowl and whisk out any lumps. Place aside to cool for 2 minutes then whisk in 50g of butter. Once completely cool, fold in 100ml of whipped cream and fill the tart shell.
Slice 3 or 4 ripe persimmons into slices about 1/2cm thick, arrange on the cream and serve.
An optional finish is to sprinkle caster sugar on the persimmon and caramelise lightly with a blowtorch.
