Yorkshire Curd Tart

Yorkshire Curd Tart is hundreds of years old but only came to my attention in January when I posted Richmond Maids of Honour. Around since the early to middle 17th century, it’s something very likely to have been made by my Yorkshire great grandmother, so I just had to make it.

Not a custard tart, it’s more like a shallow cheesecake. With sweet spices and dried currants, it’s a bit out of the ordinary and goes beautifully with a nice cuppa tea. Some insist only nutmeg or only allspice should be used, so I used a little of each.

I came up with my recipe for the filling by adapting from several sources, especially Foods of England and British Food: A History, and used my own favorite tart pastry. And I like to completely prebake the pastry before filling to ensure the crust will stay crisp, “no soggy bottoms.”

I love historical recipes, especially the regional recipes of Britain. Even ones I don't care to make or eat are fun to read. Is that your idea of fun?! 😀 I blame my mother!

Yorkshire Curd Tart

(Makes one 9-inch/23cm tart, 8 servings) 

The Pastry - Pâte Sucrée (a sweet shortcrust pastry) 

1 1/4 dip-and-sweep cup (6.25 ounces/177 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 packed cup (1 ounce/28 grams) unsifted powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (4 ounces/113 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 large egg 

The Filling 

6 tablespoons (3 ounces/85 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/3 cup (2.33 ounces/66 grams) sugar

8 ounces (227 grams) curd cheese or Neufchatel cheese (also called 1/3 less fat cream cheese), room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 large eggs, beaten
1/3 cup (2.67 fluid ounces/79 ml) milk
1 teaspoon rosewater, optional (I used 1/8 teaspoon almond extract)
1/2 packed cup (2.5 ounces/71 grams) dried currants

1 teaspoon unbleached all-purpose flour

1 Add flour, powdered sugar and salt to work bowl of food processor; turn on for about 3 or 4 seconds to combine. Add chunks of butter; pulse to a crumb texture. Add egg; pulse until the dough starts clumping together. This is to be a crisp, more cookie-like crust, rather than a flaky pastry; so there's not quite the concern about over-processing. Flatten slightly into a 4- to 6-inch round disc, wrap and refrigerate for 30 to 60 minutes. 

2 Lightly butter a 9-inch/23cm tart tin (1-inch deep) and set it on a baking sheet. On lightly floured 12-inch square of aluminum foil, roll out the pastry to a 12-inch circle about 1/8-inch (3 mm) thick. Transfer dough to tart tin, pressing dough (but not stretching it) to fit the tin. Save the foil; you're not done with it. With scissors or knife, trim the overhang to 1/2 inch or so all around. Fold it in and press it to the sides to form a thicker side crust. Trim the edges* by rolling the rolling pin over the top. Press the pastry into the flutes so that it rises a bit above the edge (in case of shrinkage). Pop it in the freezer for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 375F/190C/Gas5.

* Don't throw away the scraps; they make wonderful cookies (maybe 2 or 3 of them). Just press them out and throw them on the baking sheet next to the tart tin. Save a small piece of raw dough in case your crust needs patching.

3 Cover chilled pastry with reserved piece of foil, clean side up, pressing it to fit well. Spread 2 cups of ceramic pie weights (that's two packages of Mrs. Anderson's ceramic pie weights), also called ceramic baking beans in the UK, over the foil. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights; continue baking for 10 minutes, until lightly browned to a pale golden. Let stand to cool completely, about 30 minutes.

4 Toward end of pastry cooling time, preheat oven to 325F/165C/Gas3 and make the filling. In small mixing bowl (I use a 1-quart glass measure), cream well the softened butter and sugar. Mix in the cheese, salt and spices. Beat in the eggs, milk and rosewater or almond extract (if using) until thoroughly combined. In small bowl, mix the currants and flour, making sure all the currants are separated and coated, and stir them into the filling, reserving a tablespoon of them to sprinkle on top of the filling, if you like. I didn’t do it, but I might next time. I think a few floating on top would look nice. 

5 Pour the filling into the cooled prebaked pastry shell. Put on a pie crust shield to prevent the edge of the crust from over-browning. Bake (with tart tin on baking sheet) for about 25 to 30 minutes, until just set and still with a bit of a wobble in the center. Cool to room temperature, about 1 hour. Remove from tin. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Dust with sifted powdered sugar just before serving.

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Jean