Doucetey (Custard Tart) is a traditional English recipe from the late Middle Ages for a custard tart of an egg, cream and milk custard flavoured with saffron that's baked in a pie crust. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic English version of: Custard Tart (Doucetey).
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This dish is known from 1399, where it was served at Henry IV's coronation banquet. In essence it's a sweetened custard tart that on some occasions would contain white meat. The sweet custard filling, doucete was also used in other dishes. The recipe I've taken from Harleian MS 273 c. 1420 and it spells the dish with a thorn (ȝ) character which in Medieval English stood for a y or i. So the dish is Douceteȝ or doucetey. As far as I can make out, the sweet custard filling was doucete and the tart containing the custard was a doucetey. The pelys referred to in the recipe is a baker's peel, the long pole with a shovel-like end used for putting bread loaves into and out of ovens. Here it's used to extract the pie shells so they can be filled with the custard. The fact that the custard is expected to rise in the oven suggests that it's been well beaten to aerate in the bowl so it rises like a soufflé.
Original Recipe:
.XV. Douceteȝ.— (from Harleian MS 273 c. 1420)
Take Creme a gode cupfulle, & put it on a straynoure; þanne take ȝolkys of Eyroun & put þer-to, & a lytel mylke; þen strayne it þorow a straynoure in-to a bolle; þen take Sugre y-now, & put þerto, or ellys hony forde faute of Sugre, þan coloure it with Safroun; þan take þin cofyns, & put in þe ovynne lere, & lat hem ben hardyd; þan take a dish y-fastenyd on þe pelys ende; & pore þin comade in-to þe dyssche, & fro þe dyssche in-to þe cofyns; & when þey don a-ryse wel, take them out, & serue hem forth.
Doucetey
Take a generous cupful of cream and pass it through a sieve. Then take egg yolks and add to onto cream along with a little milk. Pass the mixture through a sieve into a bowl [this could refer to an ornate cup]. Then take sufficient sugar and add to it, or else there being insufficient sugar add honey. Then colour it with saffron. Then take pastry cases in pans and put in the oven and let then harden. Remove them from the oven with a peel and pour the [well beaten] custard into the pastry case. Return to the oven and when the custard is well risen and set take them out of the oven and serve them forth.
Modern Redaction:
Ingredients:
For the Custard:
250ml double cream
6 large egg yolks
500ml whole milk
6 saffron threads
4 tbsp honey (or sugar)
Roll out the pastry (dough) and use to line a rectangular baking dish. Trim the pastry, prick the base then place in an oven pre-heated to 180C. Bake for 10 minutes.
In the meantime, prepare the custard. Strain the cream into a bowl and crumble in the saffron. Add the eggs, milk and honey (or sugar). Beat until the honey or sugar have dissolved then strain the mixture into a clean medium-sized bowl.
Beat well for a few minutes to ensure the custard mix is properly aerated.
When the pastry has baked, remove from the oven then pour in the beaten custard. Return to the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until the custard is golden on top, is nicely risen and is almost set.
Remove from the oven, allow to cool and fully set then serve.
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