Easter Egg Custard Tarts

This is my favorite pastry that I look forward to having when we go to England. You can find it in most pastry shops, bakeries and tea rooms. It's a simple egg custard in a pastry shell and the secret ingredient that makes this tart is the sprinkling of nutmeg on top. I used freshly grated nutmeg and just enough to compliment the sweet egg custard without taking it over. I used a simple pie pastry for the shell and could have tried to make them prettier with nice edging, but they looked nice and homemade! Aside from my pastry, the tarts turned out perfectly. I read through to make sure how to prepare it and the secret is to have the ingredients (eggs, milk, 1/2 and 1/2 and sugar) at room temperature and mix them over a warm bowl of water so the filling does not separate from the tart shell during baking. Plus, you bake them at a very low temperature - only 300 degrees for about 45-50 minutes.

I enjoy this for breakfast (it's eggs anyway, right?) an afternoon treat with tea or dessert. It's simple, yet decadent and doesn't need any topping or garnish to be enjoyed.

Farm Fresh Eggs

My in-laws have acquired some new animals on their farm in Wisconsin, including five beautiful chickens. This morning I went out with my father-in-law to say hi, feed them breakfast and gather the eggs. I've always tended to buy free-range or organic eggs at the market and have lately been getting my eggs straight from the Amish farms in Michigan. However, I had not yet met the chickens that provided my eggs for breakfast until today. It's just nice to know where your food comes from. We had a fantastic cooked breakfast and all enjoyed farm fresh eggs fried to order. Over hard for me, please.