No Fuss Pastry Custard Food

CRUSTLESS CUSTARD PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9 inch pie dish.
• In a blender or food processor, mix milk, eggs, butter, vanilla and sugar. Pulse to mix. Then, add in flour, ground cinnamon. Mix until combined and smooth.
• Pour batter into prepared pie dish. Top with a sprinkle of ground cinnamon and coarse sugar.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes or until lightly brown.
• Let pie cool for 30 minutes before serving.If desired, top with whipped cream when serving.
• Keep leftovers in refrigerator.

NO-FUSS PASTRY CREAM

Steps:

• Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk together milk and egg yolks in a glass measuring cup; add to saucepan along with butter and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let boil 1 minute, still whisking; then remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
• Strain pastry cream through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto surface of cream to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days. Just before using, whisk until smooth.

SIMPLE CUSTARD

Steps:

• Cook and stir milk, vanilla extract, and butter in a saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Remove mixture from heat before it comes to a boil.
• Whisk eggs, sugar, and cornstarch together in a bowl until sugar dissolves.
• Set saucepan back over low heat. Pour in egg mixture slowly, whisking constantly, until custard thickens enough to coat the bottom of a spoon, 5 to 10 minutes.

NO-FUSS SHEPHERD'S PIE

Steps:

• Heat 1 tbsp sunflower oil in a medium saucepan, then soften 1 chopped onion and 2-3 chopped carrots for a few mins.
• When soft, turn up the heat, crumble in 500g lamb mince and brown, tipping off any excess fat.
• Add 2 tbsp tomato purée and a large splash of Worcestershire sauce, then fry for a few mins.
• Pour over 500ml beef stock, bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for 40 mins, uncovering halfway.
• Meanwhile, heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4, then make the mash. Boil the 900g potato, cut into chunks, in salted water for 10-15 mins until tender. Drain, then mash with 85g butter and 3 tbsp milk.
• Put the mince into an ovenproof dish, top with the mash and ruffle with a fork. The pie can now be chilled and frozen for up to a month.
• Bake for 20-25 mins until the top is starting to colour and the mince is bubbling through at the edges. (To bake from frozen, cook at 160C/fan 140C/gas 3 for 1 hr-1 hr 20 mins until piping hot in the centre. Flash under the grill to brown, if you like.)
• Leave to stand for 5 mins before serving.

NO-FUSS FRUIT TART

Steps:

• This is perhaps one of the most useful desserts you can have in your repertoire. Not that it is the job of a dessert to be useful: a dessert exists merely to delight. Still, dinner does need to be made, even when there's precious little time for it, and that should be a delight, too. So here's the deal: there is pitifully little work to be done to make this berry-dazzler of a tart, and enormous pleasure to be derived from its consumption.
• All you do is bash a few graham crackers a day or so in advance and make the base - getting one course out of the way early is my way of managing - then stir lemon curd and cream cheese together, and use this cream to line the crumb-covered tart pan. I use store-bought lemon curd here, but even if it comes out of the jar, it must be of good quality. And when it is whipped into the cream cheese, that cream cheese must be at room temperature, as should the lemon curd in its jar. The combination produces a layer of what tastes like cheesecake cream: light, lemony, luscious.
• I used to put the berries on top of the cream pretty much last-minute, but then I found that a leftover wedge, after the party, looked inviting after being in the refrigerator overnight, and so I now finish assembling the tart ahead of time. But if you prefer to add the fruit nearer to serving, I completely understand.
• Don't feel you must obey the fruit orders too literally: any mixture of berries (or indeed other fruit) would do, and you could well use a smaller amount and top the tart less extravagantly.
• Process the crackers and the butter to a sandy rubble in a food processor and press into the sides and the bottom of a deep-sided fluted tart pan. Put it in the freezer or refrigerator for about 10 to 15 minutes.
• In a clean processor bowl, process the cream cheese and lemon curd (or just mix by hand) and spread it into the bottom of the chilled tart pan, covering the base evenly.
• Arrange the fruit gently (so it doesn't sink in too much) on top of the lemony cream cheese in a decorative manner, leaving some of the strawberries unhulled, with their picturesque stalks attached.
• Refrigerator the tart, preferably overnight, or for at least 4 hours. It does need to get properly cold in order to set enough for the tart to be unmolded and sliced easily.
• Make Ahead Note:
• The tart can be made 1 day ahead. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, being careful not to press on the filling, and refrigerate. Will keep for around 4 days.
• Freeze Note:
• The tart, without fruit topping, can be frozen for up to 3 months if made with regular cream cheese, but be warned it may "weep" on thawing, so is not ideal for freezing. Open-freeze tart until firm, then wrap (still in its pan) in a double layer of plastic wrap and layer of aluminum foil. To thaw, unwrap and cover loosely with plastic wrap then thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Decorate and serve as directed in the recipe.

NO FUSS FRUIT PIE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork or whisk.
• Unfold 1 pastry sheet on a baking sheet. Spread the pie filling on the pastry to within 1 inch of the edge. Brush the edges with the egg mixture. Unfold the remaining pastry sheet and place over the filling. Crimp the edges with a fork to seal. Brush with the egg mixture. Cut several slits in the top of the pastry.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Cool the pastry on the baking sheet on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

PASTRY CREAM FOR CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Whisk egg yolks until smooth in a large bowl. Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan, and heat over medium. Stirring constantly, gradually add milk in a slow, steady stream, and cook until mixture thickens and begins to bubble, about 5 minutes.
• Whisking constantly, slowly pour one third of the milk mixture into egg yolks (this step is called tempering, which keeps the yolks from curdling). Pour mixture into remaining milk mixture in saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture comes to a full boil and is thick enough to hold its shape when lifted with a spoon, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.
• Strain mixture through a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl. Cover with parchment paper or plastic wrap, pressing it directly on surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled and firm, at least 2 hours (or up to 2 days).

NO FUSS ZUCCHINI QUICHE

Steps:

• For the filling: Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add zucchini, onion, garlic and salt and cook covered until veggies are tender and have released their liquid, about 6 minutes.
• Uncover and cook until bottom of pan is dry, about 3 minutes. Transfer zucchini mixture to bowl and let cool for 5 minutes. Toss with basil and flour until combined.
• For the custard and crust: Whisk eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper in large bowl. Stir in zucchini mixture and cheese and pour into pie crust Bake until crust is golden brown and center of quiche is just set, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on rack for 15 minutes. Serve.