You may not care about World Baking Day but I do. Or it’s a rather excuse to bake something new. I found this randomly on Bon Appetit magazine and honestly, it’s probably the best pie I’ve ever made. It’s refreshing, with a super yummy crust and a delicious custard – both surprisingly easy to make.
All the ingredients are from Alpha Mega and I went for organic where available.
Crust
- 1 cup whole meal flour
- ½ cup almond flour (you can use normal flour but this adds extra flavour)
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 2 large egg yolks
- ½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
Custard and Assembly
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 4 large egg yolks
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ¼ cup corn flour
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 pint blueberries (fresh or frozen)
- ½ pint blackberries
Method
Crust
- Preheat oven to 180C°. Whisk flour, almond flour, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk egg yolks and 1 Tbsp. cold water in a small bowl.
- Add butter to dry ingredients. Rub butter into dry ingredients with your fingertips to create large, shaggy pieces of dough (the idea is to smash the butter into the flour, creating some pieces that are flat and thin and some that are large and irregular).
- Using a fork or your fingertips, toss egg yolk mixture into dough to combine. Knead dough in bowl with your hands until it starts to come together (it will still look a little dry; if it looks too dry and doesn’t come together, add 1–2 Tbsp. more water, but only if needed).
- Turn dough out onto a work surface and knead 1 or 2 more times. Divide dough in half, stack 1 piece on top of the other, then press down firmly to smash both dough pieces together. Repeat several times until dough is well combined and becomes slightly sticky.
- Press dough into bottom and 1″ up sides of a 9″ springform pan or a 9″ tart mold. Prick dough all over with a fork. Freeze until very firm, 20–30 minutes.
- Bake crust until deep golden brown all over, 35–40 minutes. Let cool.
- Do Ahead: Crust can be baked 2 days ahead. Wrap very tightly with plastic and store at room temperature.
Custard and Assembly
- Bring milk and vanilla paste to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat.
- Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium bowl (start slowly—it won’t want to combine easily at first). Then vigorously whisk until mixture lightens in color to a very pale yellow and is very thick, about 1 minute (the sugar should be nearly dissolved). Slowly whisk in hot milk mixture. Return custard base to saucepan. Heat over medium and bring to a simmer, whisking constantly, until mixture is bubbling and thick with no cornstarch taste, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Add butter a couple of pieces at a time, whisking until fully melted before adding more, until all butter is incorporated. Transfer to a medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing directly against surface of cream. Let cool.
- Vigorously whisk cooled custard until smooth and slightly loosened. Spread inside cooled crust. Top with berries.
- Do Ahead: Custard can be made 4 days ahead. Keep chilled.
