However, his very rich, buttery pastry is incredibly fragile; I find Gellatly’s slightly more robust stuff much easier to work with. His advice “to let your pastry case get a little browner than you think it should be at the blind-baking stage” also proves invaluable. Many a great custard tart has been felled by soggy pastry, and Spry, who mysteriously does not suggest blind baking, and Grigson – who blind bakes hers but neglects to mention putting it back in the oven for a couple of minutes without the baking beans – both let themselves down here. It’s vital, when dealing with a filling as liquid as this, to prepare your pastry defences with meticulous care and to invest in an insurance policy of beaten egg for good measure.
Wareing adds lemon zest to his pastry, which, lovely as it is, overpowers the flavour of the custard – Gary Rhodes’s grated nutmeg is a much more harmonious addition and allows for a double whammy of my favourite sweet spice.