This vanilla custard tart recipe features a soft almond flour crust and a creamy vanilla custard. Top this light dessert with fresh fruit for a perfect spring and summer treat! The tart is SCD and Paleo friendly. It is gluten free, grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free.
I am absolutely obsessed with cooking guru Ina Garten (AKA The Barefoot Contessa) and many of my desserts are inspired by her dessert recipes...and here's another!
I was recently flipping through The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook and stumbled upon her Fresh Fruit Tart recipe.
It looked and sounded glorious, so I just had to adapt it to fit into my SCD/Paleo lifestyle!
The crust is soft with just the slightest hint of cinnamon. It's then filled with a creamy dairy free vanilla custard and can be topped with fresh fruit! It's a simple, rustic dessert that's perfect anytime of year!
How to make an almond flour tart crust
I chose almond flour for this crust because it's SO easily accessible to me, but any nut flour (with the exception of coconut flour) will work for this recipe.
Begin by mixing the almond flour, honey, coconut oil, and cinnamon in a small bowl.
The dough will be crumbly and have the texture of damp sand but should stick together when pressed.
Place the dough in a greased tart pan and use your fingers to evenly press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
Use a fork to prick holes into the dough and place the tart pan in the oven to bake.
Once the crust is a light golden brown, remove it from the oven and allow it to cool completely.
Note: This crust is very soft and crumbly once baked. If you prefer a sturdier crust then use my Easy Almond Flour Pie Crust recipe instead!
Vanilla Custard Filling
Traditional custard is a combo of milk or heavy cream, eggs, and sugar. Since we're keeping this recipe SCD and Paleo friendly, the milk is swapped out for almond milk and honey replaces the sugar!
The ingredients needed for this silky paleo custard are:
- almond milk (coconut milk or cashew milk will also work)
- honey
- fine sea salt
- egg yolks
- coconut oil
- vanilla extract
Whisk together the honey, egg yolks, and salt in a medium sized bowl while the almond milk comes to a boil on the stove.
Very slowly pour half of the milk into the yolk mixture making sure to whisk the ENTIRE time.
Then pour the yolk mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the milk and continue whisking until the custard begins to boil.
Drop the heat and whisk until the custard has visibly thickened.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the coconut oil and vanilla extract. Strain the custard into a large bowl.
The custard will look very soupy at this point but will begin to thicken once cooled.
Cover the bowl of custard with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to cool.
Once the vanilla custard has cooled and thickened, pour it into the tart crust and use an offset knife to smooth the top.
Garnish the top with the fruit of your choosing! I decided on blackberries, blueberries, grapes, and kiwi...so delicious! Hope you enjoy this vanilla custard tart recipe!
Vanilla Custard Tart Tips
- Use the egg whites in this Pumpkin Whoopie Pie recipe or make my Honey Italian Meringue.
- The custard and crust can be made up to two days ahead of time and assembled just before serving.
- If not following the SCD diet, maple syrup can be used in place of honey.
- Once you notice a visible thickening of the custard, then remove it from the heat. If the custard is still soupy after 6 hours in the refrigerator, then it was not cooked on the stove long enough.
Craving more sweets? Try these favorite desserts!
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Vanilla Custard Tart
Ingredients
Crust
- 2 cups blanched and finely ground almond flour
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil (plus more for greasing pan)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Vanilla Custard Filling
- 1 ½ cups almond milk (full fat canned coconut or cashew milk will also work)
- ⅓ cup honey
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 6 large egg yolks (at room temperature)
- ½ cup melted coconut oil (at room temperature)
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 9" tart or pie pan with coconut oil. Ensure all ingredients are at room temperature before beginning!
- In a bowl or food processor, mix together the almond flour, honey, coconut oil and cinnamon.
- The dough will look crumbly in the bowl but when pressed together should stick.
- Press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of the tart pan. Use a fork to prick holes into the dough before placing in the oven on the middle shelf.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the crust is golden brown in color. Allow to cool completely.
Vanilla Custard Filling
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the honey, salt, and egg yolks. Set aside.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the almond milk to a boil. Then slowly pour half of the milk into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly.
- Pour the milk and egg mixture back into the saucepan and continue to whisk over medium-high heat until it begins to boil. Drop the heat to medium-low and continue to whisk until the mixture visibly thickens. It's a subtle change that can take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes (or longer depending on your stove), so it's important to pay attention!
- Remove from the heat and stir in the coconut oil and vanilla extract. Whisk until well incorporated then strain into a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (making sure the plastic touches the custard) and place it in the back of your refrigerator for a minimum of 6 hours or until set.
- Scoop the custard into the prepared and cooled tart shell. Garnish with fruit just before serving.
- Cover the tart and store in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.
Notes
- The crust is very rustic and crumbly, for a sturdier crust try my Easy Almond Flour Pie Crust.
- If the custard is still soupy after 6 hours in the refrigerator, then the custard was not kept over the heat long enough.
- Don't skip straining the custard as it will remove any tiny pieces of egg that may have cooked!
- Both the tart crust and custard should be cooled before assembly or the crust will get soggy.
Nutrition
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Gabi
This is sooooo good
I made the whole tart a while ago planning to take something to a party but the custard wouldn’t set in time even when I had made it the night before
People told me to throw it out but instead I put it in the freezer which didn’t do anything
So then I tried reheating on the stove again and it worked and got thicker! I’m so happy I didn’t give up and add gelatine
Then it would’ve probably just felt jelly-y
Anyway so that tart turned out really well in the end and I decorated it with the pretty rose kiwis in the pictures and everyone at home loveddd it and couldn’t even tell it was something gaps
Yesterday I was feeling like custard so I made some really quickly and left it boiling on the stove abit longer while whisking and it noticeably got thicker and then this morning the consistency was perfect !
Cate
Hello! Very excited to find your blog as I have UC and so many of your recipes will be nice on my gut! I have been craving a custard and came across this recipe and decided to give it a go. However, after letting my custard set overnight, today it is still very running and watery ?. Any advice? I tried using an immersion blender and blending it up some more and put it back in the fridge. Thank you!
Jennifer
Oh no Cate! Did you substitute any ingredients? The only thing I can think is that it must have needed more time over the heat. I'm so sorry it didn't set for you.
Cate
I did not substitute anything. But next time I will try whisking it longer over the stove. Thanks! It was still tasty, just not the right consistency.
Victoria
Hi! Can you make the crust dough and the filling a day before and assemble the next day?
Jennifer
You should be able to.
Ann
should the crust be hard when you take it out? I baked mine for 12 min and it was completely soft when I removed it
Jennifer
It should be a golden brown and although it will be soft, it should be cooked. As the crust cools it will harden a bit (almond flour is VERY difficult to get crispy).Everyone’s oven is different so it may need more time to bake...
Loraine
Hi, Jennifer! Although my custard didn’t set the end result was delicious. Everything went well until the mixture started to boil. It started scrambling a bit when I took it off my electric stove stop and scrambled more when I added the vanilla and coconut oil at the end. I want it to look as beautiful as yours! Any tips?
Jennifer
Hi Loraine! It's normal for a tiny bit of the eggs to cook, that's why it's strained in the end but if it really started to scramble, I'm thinking either the heat was too high (everyone's stove top is a bit different with heat, just like ovens) or the mixture wasn't whisked the entire time. Did you change any ingredients or alter the recipe at all?