Cardamom Custard Tart (Print Version)

Buttery pastry shell with silky cardamom custard and fresh seasonal fruit topping.

# What You’ll Need:

→ For the Tart Shell

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→ For the Cardamom Custard

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→ For the Topping

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# How to Make It:

01 - Pulse flour, powdered sugar, and salt in a food processor. Add cold butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add egg yolk and ice water, pulsing just until dough comes together. Form into a disk, wrap, and chill for 30 minutes. Roll out and line a 9-inch tart pan. Trim excess and prick base with fork. Chill another 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line shell with parchment and baking weights. Bake for 15 minutes, remove weights, and bake 10 minutes more until lightly golden. Cool completely.
02 - Heat milk and cardamom pods in a saucepan until steaming but not boiling. Remove from heat, cover, and infuse for 15 minutes. Strain out cardamom pods. Whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Gradually whisk in warm milk. Return to saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and bubbling for 2-3 minutes. Pour into a bowl, cover surface with plastic wrap, and cool to room temperature.
03 - Spread cooled cardamom custard evenly into tart shell. Arrange fresh fruit on top. For a glossy finish, gently heat apricot jam with 1 tsp water and brush over fruit.

# Additional Tips::

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  • The cardamom infusion creates this hauntingly aromatic custard that makes people pause and ask whats in it
  • That buttery shell shatters beautifully under your fork, the kind of texture that makes dessert feel like a special occasion
  • You can top it with whatever fruit looks gorgeous at the market, so it adapts to every season
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  • Let that dough rest in the refrigerator, otherwise it will shrink and bake unevenly, and nobody wants a sad shrunken tart shell
  • Whisk the custard constantly while cooking, because one moment of distraction and youll have scrambled eggs instead of silky pudding
  • The cardamom infusion time is not negotiable, those 15 minutes are where all the flavor lives
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  • Crush your cardamom pods just enough to split them open, not into a powder, so you can strain them out easily later
  • Room temperature ingredients for the custard base help everything incorporate smoothly without creating lumps
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